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Severance + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier + +Author: Frank H. Severance + +Release Date: August 5, 2011 [EBook #36974] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OLD TRAILS ON THE NIAGARA FRONTIER *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 670px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="670" height="1024" alt="" title="" /> +<h2><span class="smcap">Old Trails +on the +Niagara Frontier</span></h2> +<h4><span class="smcap">Frank H. Severance</span></h4> +</div> + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 710px;"> +<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="710" height="1010" alt="THE VISION OF BRÉBEUF." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE VISION OF BRÉBEUF.</span> +<p class="center"><i>Drawn by H. H. Green.</i> <i>See Page 15.</i></p> +</div> + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + + +<div class="bbox"> +<h1><span class="smcap">Old Trails<br /> +on the<br /> +Niagara Frontier</span></h1> + +<hr style="width: 100%;" /> +<h3><span class="smcap">By Frank H. Severance</span></h3> +<hr style="width: 100%;" /> + +<h4>BUFFALO N Y</h4> + +<h5>MDCCCXCIX</h5> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + +<h5><span class="smcap">Copyright 1899</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">By Frank H. Severance</span></h5> + +<hr style="width: 5%;" /> +<p class="center"><small>THE MATTHEWS-NORTHRUP CO.,</small><br /> +COMPLETE ART-PRINTING WORKS,<br /> +BUFFALO, N. Y.</p> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> + + +<h4>TO THE</h4> + +<h2><span class="smcap">Young People of the Schools</span></h2> + +<h4>OF BUFFALO,</h4> + +<div class="pblockquot"> +<p class="noin"><span class="smcap">Many of whom, on sundry pleasant +occasions, have accompanied me, in +school-room talks, over some of the +Old Trails which run in and out +of our home region, these studies +of Niagara Frontier History are +cordially inscribed.</span></p> + +<p class="ralign">F. H. S.</p> +</div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> + + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Dedication,</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_v">v</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Preface</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_ix">ix</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Cross Bearers</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Paschal of the Great Pinch</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">With Bolton at Fort Niagara</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">What Befel David Ogden</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Fort Niagara Centennial</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Journals and Journeys of an Early Buffalo Merchant</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Misadventures of Robert Marsh</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Underground Trails</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Niagara and The Poets</span>,</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>The essays herein contained have been written at "odd +moments," and for divers purposes. Their chief value lies +in the fact that they illustrate, several of them by means of individual +experiences, certain typical and well-defined periods in the +history of the Niagara region. By "Niagara region," a phrase +which no doubt occurs pretty often in the following pages, I +mean to designate in a historic, not a scenic, sense the frontier +territory of the Niagara from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It is a +region which has a concrete but as yet for the most part unwritten +history of its own. The value of its past to the student, as is ever +the case with "local history" in its worthy aspect, depends upon +the importance of its relation to the general history of our country. +That the Niagara region has played an important part in that +history, is an assurance wholly superfluous for even the most +casual student of American development. All that the following +studies undertake is to give a glimpse, with such fidelity as may be, +of events and conditions hereabouts existing, at periods which may +fairly be termed typical.</p> + +<p>"The Cross Bearers," a paper originally prepared as a lecture +for a class that was studying the history of the Catholic Church in +America, is, so far as I am aware, the first attempt to review in a +single narrative all of the French missions in this immediate +vicinity, and the work of the English-speaking missionary priests +who said mass in the Niagara region prior to its full organization +under ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The data are drawn from the +original sources—the Jesuit Relations, Champlain, Le Clercq, +Hennepin, Charlevoix, Crespel and other early writers whose +works, in any edition, are often inaccessible to the student. For +data relating to Bishop Burke, and for other valuable assistance, +I am indebted to my friend the Very Rev. Wm. R. Harris, Dean +of St. Catharines.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The Paschal of the Great Pinch" is an attempt to picture, +in narrative form, conditions conceived to exist at Fort Niagara in +1687-'8, when the Marquis de Denonville made his abortive +attempt to occupy that point. Lest any reader shall be in doubt +as to the genuineness of the memoirs of the Chevalier De Tregay, I +beg to assure him that Lieut. De Tregay is no myth. His name, +and practically all the facts on which my sketch is based, will be +found in the Paris Documents (IV.), "Documentary History of +the State of New York," Vol. I. This paper stands for the +French period on the Niagara; the two next following, for the +British period.</p> + +<p>"With Bolton at Fort Niagara" is almost wholly drawn from +unpublished records, chiefly the Haldimand Papers, the originals +of which are in the British Museum, but certified copies of which +are readily accessible to the student in the Archives at Ottawa. I +have made but a slight study of the great mass of material from +which practically the history of the Niagara region during the +Revolution is to be written; yet it is probable that this slight +study makes known for the first time, to students of our home +history, such facts as the employment of Hessians on the Niagara +during the Revolution, the first bringing hither of the American +flag, possibly even the work and fate of Lieut. Col. Bolton +himself.</p> + +<p>The next paper, "What Befel David Ogden," is drawn from +a widely different, though scarcely less known source. The personal +narrative is based on an obscure pamphlet by Josiah Priest, +published at Lansingburgh, N. Y., in 1840. I am aware that +Priest is not altogether trustworthy as a historian. Dr. Thos. W. +Field calls him a "prolific, needy and unscrupulous author" +[<i>See</i> "An Essay Toward an Indian Bibliography"]; yet he concedes +to his works "a large amount of historic material obtained +at some pains from sources more or less authentic." My judgment +is, that Priest is least trustworthy in his more ambitious +work; whereas his unpretentious pamphlets, wretchedly printed at +a country press sixty years ago, contain true narratives of individual +undertakings in the Revolution, Indian captivities and other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> +pioneer experiences, gathered by the writer direct from the hero +whose adventures he wrote down, without literary skill it is true, +but also without apparent perversion or exaggeration. The very +circumstantiality with which David Ogden's experiences are +narrated is evidence of their genuineness. Corroborative evidence +is also furnished by the lately-published muster-rolls of New York +regiments during the Revolution. In the Third Regiment of +Tryon County militia, among the enlisted men, appears the name +of David Ogden ["New York in the Revolution," 2d ed., p. 181], +and there was but one David Ogden, not merely in the Tryon +County militia, but so far as these records show, in the entire +soldiery of New York State. In the same regiment there was also +a "Daniel" Ogden, Sr., possibly David's father. The name +Daniel Ogden also occurs in the list of Tryon County Rangers +["New York in the Revolution," 2d ed., p. 186], a service in +which we would naturally expect to find one whom the Indian +Brant called "the beaver hunter, that old scouter." In short, I +think we may accept David as altogether genuine, and in his +adventures—never told before, I believe, as a part of Niagara +history—may find an example of patriotic suffering and endurance +wholly typical of what many another underwent at that time and +in this region.</p> + +<p>The "Fort Niagara Centennial Address" is here included +because its most important part relates to that period in our history +immediately following the Revolution, the "hold-over period," +during which, for thirteen years after the Treaty of 1783, the +British continued to occupy Fort Niagara and other lake posts. +What I say on the negotiations leading to the final relinquishment +of Fort Niagara is based on information gleaned from the manuscript +records in London and Ottawa.</p> + +<p>"The Journals and Journeys of an Early Buffalo Merchant" is +also a contribution to local annals from an unpublished source, +being drawn from the MS. journals of John Lay, very kindly +placed in my hands by members of his family. They afford a +picture of conditions hereabouts and elsewhere, during the years +1810-'23, which I have thought worthy of preservation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the "Misadventures of Robert Marsh" I have endeavored +by means of a personal narrative to illustrate another period +in our history. The misguided Marsh fairly stands for many of +the so-called Patriots whose uprising on this border is known as +Mackenzie's Rebellion of 1837-'8. The considerable literature on +this subject includes a number of personal narratives, for the most +part published in small editions and now hard to find; but the +scarcest of all, so far as my experience has discovered, is that +from which I have drawn the story of Robert Marsh: "Seven +Years of My Life, or Narrative of a Patriot Exile, who together +with eighty-two American Citizens were illegally tried for +rebellion in Upper Canada and transported to Van Dieman's +Land," etc., etc. It is an exceedingly prolix and pretentious title, +after the fashion of the time, prefacing a badly-written, poorly-printed +volume of 207 pages, turned out by the press of Faxon & +Stevens, Buffalo, 1848. In view of the fact that neither in Sabin +nor any other bibliography have I found any mention of this book, +and the further fact that in fifteen years of somewhat diligent book-hunting +I have discovered but one copy, it is no exaggeration to +call Marsh's "Narrative" "scarce," if not "rare."</p> + +<p>The incidents related in "Underground Trails" are illustrative +of many an episode at the eastern end of Lake Erie in the +days preceding the Civil War. I had the facts of the principal +adventures some years ago from the late Mr. Frank Henry of Erie, +Pa., who had himself been a participant in more than one worthy +enterprise of the Underground Railroad. Sketches based on +information supplied by Mr. Henry, and originally written out for +the Erie Gazette, are the latter part of the paper as it now stands.</p> + +<p>The last essay, "Niagara and the Poets," is a following of "Old +Trails" chiefly in a literary sense, but it is thought its inclusion +here will not be found inappropriate to the general character of +the collection.</p> + +<p>I must add a word of grateful acknowledgment for help received +from Douglas Brymner, Dominion Archivist, at Ottawa; from the +Hon. Peter A. Porter of Niagara Falls, N. Y., Charles W. Dobbins +of New York City, and John Miller, Erie, Pa. F. H. S.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<h1>The Cross Bearers.</h1> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE CROSS BEARERS.</h2> + + +<p>I invite you to consider briefly with me the +beginnings of known history in our home region. +Of the general character of that history, as a part +of the exploration and settlement of the lake region, +you are already familiar. What I undertake is to +direct special attention to a few of the individuals +who made that history—for history, in the ultimate +analysis, is merely the record of the result of personal +character and influence; and it is striking to note how +relatively few and individual are the dominating minds.</p> + +<p>Remembering this, when we turn to trace the story +of the Niagara, we find the initial impulses strikingly +different from those which lie at the base of history in +many places. Often the first chapter in the story is a +record of war for war's sake—the aim being conquest, +acquisition of territory, or the search for gold. Not so +here. The first invasion of white men in this mid-lake +region was a mission of peace and good will. Our +history begins in a sweet and heroic obedience to commands +passed down direct from the Founder of Christianity +Himself. Into these wilds, long before the +banner of any earthly kingdom was planted here, was +borne the cross of Christ. Here the crucifix preceded +the sword; the altar was built before the hearth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now, I care not what the faith of the student be, he +cannot escape the facts. The cross is stamped upon +the first page of our home history—of this Buffalo and +the banks of the Niagara; and whoever would know +something of that history must follow the footsteps of +those who first brought the cross to these shores. It +is, therefore, a brief following of the personal experiences +of these early cross bearers that we undertake; +but first, a word may be permitted by way of reminder +as to the conditions here existing when our +recorded history begins.</p> + +<p>From remote days unrecorded, the territory bordering +the Niagara, between Lakes Erie and Ontario, was +occupied by a nation of Indians called the Neuters. A +few of their villages were on the east side of the river, +the easternmost being supposed to have stood near the +present site of Lockport. The greater part of the +Niagara peninsula of Ontario and the north shore of +Lake Erie was their territory. To the east of them, in +the Genesee valley and beyond, dwelt the Senecas, the +westernmost of the Iroquois tribes. To the north of +them, on Lake Huron and the Georgian Bay, dwelt +the Hurons. About 1650 the Iroquois overran the +Neuter territory, destroyed the nation and made the +region east of the Niagara a part of their own territory; +though more than a century elapsed, after their +conquest of the Neuters, before the Senecas made permanent +villages on Buffalo Creek and near the Niagara. +It is necessary to bear this fact in mind, in considering +the visits of white men to this region during that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +period; it had become territory of the Senecas, but +they only occupied it at intervals, on hunting or fishing +expeditions.</p> + +<p>During the latter years of Neuter possession of our +region, missionaries began to approach the Niagara +from two directions; but long before any brave soul +had neared it through what is now New York State,—then +the heart of the fierce Iroquois country,—others, +more successful, had come down from the early-established +missions among the Hurons, had sojourned +among the Neuters and had offered Christian prayers +among the savages east of the Niagara.</p> + +<p>Note, therefore, that the first white man known to +have visited the Niagara region was a Catholic priest. +Moreover, so far as is ascertained, he was the first man, +coming from what is now Canada, to bring the Christian +faith into the present territory of the United +States. This man was Joseph de la Roche Dallion.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +The date of his visit is 1626.</p> + +<p>Father Dallion was a Franciscan of the Recollect +reform, who had been for a time at the mission among +the Hurons, then carried on jointly by priests and lay +brothers of the Recollects and also by Fathers of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +Society of Jesus. On October 18th of this year +(1626), he left his companions, resolved to carry the +cross among the people of the Neuter nation. An interpreter, +Bruslé, had "told wonders" of these people. +Bruslé, it would seem, therefore, had been among them; +and although, as I have said, Father Dallion was the +first white man known to have reached the Niagara, yet +it is just to consider the probabilities in the case of +this all but unknown interpreter. There are plausible +grounds for belief, but no proof, that Étienne Bruslé +was the first white man who ever saw Niagara Falls. +No adventurer in our region had a more remarkable +career than his, yet but little of it is known to us. He +was with Champlain on his journey to the Huron +country. He left that explorer in September, 1615, +at the outlet of Lake Simcoe, and went on a most +perilous mission into the country of the Andastes, allies +of the Hurons, to enlist them against the Iroquois. +The Andastes lived on the head-waters of the Susquehanna, +and along the south shore of Lake Erie, the +present site of Buffalo being generally included within +the bounds of their territory. Champlain saw nothing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +more of Bruslé for three years, but in the summer of +1618 met him at Saut St. Louis. Bruslé had had +wonderful adventures, had even been bound to the +stake and burned so severely that he must have been +frightfully scarred. The name by which we know him +may have been given him on this account. He was +saved from death by what the Indians regarded as an +exhibition of wrath on the part of the Great Spirit. I +find no trace of him between 1618 and 1626, when +Father Dallion appears to have taken counsel of him +regarding the Neuters. Bruslé was murdered by the +Hurons near Penetanguishene in 1632. What is +known of him is learned from Champlain's narrative of +the voyage of 1618 (edition of 1627). Sagard also +speaks of him, and says he made an exploration of the +upper lakes—a claim not generally credited. Parkman, +drawing from these sources and the "Relations," tells his +story in "The Pioneers of France in the New World," +admiringly calls him "That Pioneer of Pioneers," and +says that he seems to have visited the Eries in 1615.</p> + +<p>The interesting thing about him in connection with +our present study is the fact that he appears to have +been the forerunner of Dallion among the savages of +the Niagara. There is no white man named in history +who may be even conjectured, with any plausibility, to +have visited the Niagara earlier than Bruslé.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span></p> + +<p>Stimulated by this interpreter's reports, by the +encouragement of his companions and the promptings +of his own zeal, Father Dallion set out for the unknown +regions. Two Frenchmen, Grenole and Lavallée, +accompanied him. They tramped the trail for six days +through the woods, apparently rounding the western +end of Lake Ontario, and coming eastward through +the Niagara Peninsula. They were well received at +the villages, given venison, squashes and parched corn +to eat, and were shown no sign of hostility. "All +were astonished to see me dressed as I was," writes +the father, "and to see that I desired nothing of theirs, +except that I invited them by signs to lift their eyes +to heaven, make the sign of the cross and receive the +faith of Jesus Christ." The good priest, however, +had another object, somewhat unusual to the men of his +calling. At the sixth village, where he had been +advised to remain, a council was held. "There I +told them, as well as I could, that I came on behalf of +the French to contract alliance and friendship with +them, and to invite them to come to trade. I also +begged them to allow me to remain in their country, +to be able to instruct them in the law of our God, +which is the only means of going to paradise." The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +Neuters accepted the priest's offers, and the first recorded +trade in the Niagara region was made when +he presented them "little knives and other trifles." +They adopted him into the tribe, and gave him a +father, the chief Souharissen.</p> + +<p>After this cordial welcome, Grenole and Lavallée +returned to the Hurons, leaving Father Joseph "the +happiest man in the world, hoping to do something +there to advance God's glory, or at least to discover +the means, which would be no small thing, and to endeavor +to discover the mouth of the river of Hiroquois, +in order to bring them to trade." After speaking of +the people and his efforts to teach them, he continues: +"I have always seen them constant in their resolution +to go with at least four canoes to the trade, if I would +guide them, the whole difficulty being that we did not +know the way. Yroquet, an Indian known in those +countries, who had come there with twenty of his men +hunting for beaver, and who took fully 500, would +never give us any mark to know the mouth of the +river. He and several Hurons assured us that it was +only ten days' journey to the trading place; but we +were afraid of taking one river for another, and losing +our way or dying of hunger on the land." So excellent +an authority as Dr. John Gilmary Shea says: +"This was evidently the Niagara River, and the route +through Lake Ontario. He (Dallion) apparently +crossed the river, as he was on the Iroquois frontier." +The great conquest of the Neuters by the Iroquois was +not until 1648 or 1650. Just what the "Iroquois<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +frontier" was in 1627 is uncertain. It appears to have +been about midway between the Niagara and the Genesee, +the easternmost Neuter village being some thirty +miles east of the Niagara. The Recollect appears therefore +as the first man to write of the Niagara, from personal +knowledge, and of its mouth as a place of trade. +The above quotations are from the letter Father Dallion +wrote to one of his friends in France July 18, 1627, +he having then returned to Toanchain, a Huron village. +I have followed the text as given by Sagard. It is +significant that Le Clercq, in his "Premier Établissement +de la Foy," etc., gives a portion of Dallion's +account of his visit to the Neuters, but omits nearly +everything he says about trade.</p> + +<p>Father Dallion sojourned three winter months with +the Neuters, but the latter part of the stay was far +from agreeable. The Hurons, he says, having discovered +that he talked of leading the Neuters to trade, +at once spread false and evil reports of him. They +said he was a great magician; that he was a poisoner, +that he tainted the air of the country where he tarried, +and that if the Neuters did not kill him, he +would burn their villages and kill their children. The +priest was at a disadvantage in not having much command +of the Neuter dialect, and it is not strange, after +the evil report had once been started, that he should +have seemed to engage in some devilish incantation +whenever he held the cross before them or sought to +baptize the children. When one reflects upon the +dense wall of ignorance and superstition against which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +his every effort at moral or spiritual teaching was impotent, +the admiration for the martyr spirit which +animated the effort is tempered by amazement that an +acute and sagacious man should have thought it well +to "labor" in such an obviously ineffective way. But +history is full of instances of ardent devotion to aims +which the "practical" man would denounce at once +as unattainable. That Father Dallion was animated +by the spirit of the martyrs is attested in his own +account of what befel him. A treacherous band of +ten came to him and tried to pick a quarrel. "One +knocked me down with a blow of his fist, another took +an ax and tried to split my head. God averted his +hand; the blow fell on a post near me. I also +received much other ill-treatment; but that is what +we came to seek in this country." His assailants +robbed him of many of his possessions, including his +breviary and compass. These precious things, which +were no doubt "big medicine" in the eyes of his ungracious +hosts, were afterwards returned. The news +of his maltreatment reached the ears of Fathers Brébeuf +and De la Nouë at the Huron mission. They sent the +messenger, Grenole, to bring him back, if found alive. +Father Dallion returned with Grenole early in the year +1627; and so ended the first recorded visit of white +man to the Niagara region.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>For fourteen years succeeding, I find no allusion to +our district. Then comes an episode which is so +adventurous and so heroic, so endowed with beauty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +and devotion, that it should be familiar to all who give +any heed to what has happened in the vicinity of the +Niagara.</p> + +<p>Jean de Brébeuf was a missionary priest of the +Jesuits. That implies much; but in his case even +such a general imputation of exalted qualities falls +short of justice. His is a superb figure, a splendid +acquisition to the line of heroic figures that pass in +shadowy procession along the horizon of our home +history. Trace the narrative of his life as sedulously +as we may, examine his character and conduct in whatever +critical light we may choose to study them, and +still the noble figure of Father Brébeuf is seen without +a flaw. There were those of his order whose acts were +at times open to two constructions. Some of them +were charged, by men of other faith and hostile allegiance, +with using their priestly privileges as a cloak +for worldly objects. No such charge was ever brought +against Father Brébeuf. The guilelessness and heroism +of his life are unassailable.</p> + +<p>He was of a noble Normandy family, and when he +comes upon the scene, on the banks of the Niagara, he +was forty-seven years old. He had come out to +Quebec fifteen years before and had been assigned to +the Huron mission. In 1628 he was called back to +Quebec, but five years later he was allowed to return +to his charge in the remote wilderness. The record of +his work and sufferings there is not a part of our present +story. Those who seek a marvelous exemplification +of human endurance and devotion, may find it in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +the ancient Relations of the order. He lived amid +threats and plots against his life, he endured what +seems unendurable, and his zeal throve on the experience. +In November, 1640, he and a companion, the +priest Joseph Chaumonot, resolved to carry the cross +to the Neuter nation. They no doubt knew of Father +Dallion's dismal experience; and were spurred on +thereby. Like him, they sought martyrdom. Their +route from the Huron country to the Niagara has been +traced with skill and probable accuracy by the Very +Rev. Wm. R. Harris, Dean of St. Catharines. At +this time the Neuter nation lived to the north of Lake +Erie throughout what we know as the Niagara Peninsula, +and on both sides of the Niagara, their most eastern +village being near the present site of Lockport. +From an uncertain boundary, thereabouts, they confronted +the possessions of the Senecas, who a few years +later were to wipe them off the face of the earth and +occupy all their territory east of the lake and river.</p> + +<p>Fathers Brébeuf and Chaumonot set out on their +hazardous mission November 2d, in the year named, +from a Huron town in the present township of +Medonte, Ontario. (Near Penetanguishene, on Georgian +Bay.) Their probable path was through the present +towns of Beeton, Orangeville, Georgetown, Hamilton +and St. Catharines. They came out upon the Niagara +just north of the Queenston escarpment. The journey +thus far had been a succession of hardships. The +interpreters whom they had engaged to act as guides +deserted them at the outset. Ahead of them went the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +reputation which the Hurons spread abroad, that they +were magicians and carried all manner of evils with +them. Father Brébeuf was a man of extraordinary +physical strength. Many a time, in years gone by, he +had astonished the Indians by his endurance at the +paddle, and in carrying great loads over the portages. +His companion, Chaumonot, was smaller and weaker, +but was equally sustained by faith in Divine guidance. +On their way through the forests, Father Brébeuf +was cheered by a vision of angels, beckoning him +on; but when he and his companion finally stood on +the banks of the Niagara, under the leaden sky of late +November, there was little of the beatific in the +prospect. They crossed the swirling stream—by +what means must be left to conjecture, the probability +being in favor of a light bark canoe—and on the +eastern bank found themselves in the hostile village of +Onguiara—the first-mentioned settlement on the banks +of our river.</p> + +<p>Here the half-famished priests were charged with +having come to ruin the people. They were refused +shelter and food, but finally found opportunity to step +into a wigwam, where Indian custom, augmented by +fear, permitted them to remain. The braves gathered +around, and proposed to put them to death. "I am +tired," cried one, "eating the dark flesh of our +enemies, and I want to taste the white flesh of the +Frenchman." So at least is the record in the Relation. +Another drew bow to pierce the heart of Chaumonot; +but all fell back in awe when the stalwart Bré<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>beuf +stepped forth into their midst, without weapon +and without fear, and raising his hand exclaimed: +"We have not come here for any other purpose than +to do you a friendly service. We wish to teach you +to worship the Master of Life, so that you may be +happy in this world and in the other."</p> + +<p>Whether or not any of the spiritual import of his +speech was comprehended cannot be said; but the +temper of the crowd changed, so that, instead of +threatening immediate death, they began to take a +curious, childish interest in the two "black-gowns"; +examining the priests' clothes, and appropriating their +hats and other loose articles. The travelers completely +mystified them by reading a written message, and thus +getting at another's thoughts without a spoken word. +The Relation is rich in details of this sort, and of the +wretchedness of the life which the missionaries led. +They visited other "towns," as the collections of bark +wigwams are called; but everywhere they were looked +upon as necromancers, and their lives were spared only +through fear.</p> + +<p>Far into the winter the priests endured all manner +of hardship. Food was sometimes thrown to them as +to a worthless dog, sometimes denied altogether, and +then they had to make shift with such roots and barks +or chance game as their poor woodcraft enabled them +to procure, or the meager winter woods afforded. On +one occasion, when a chief frankly told them that his +people would have killed them long before, but for +fear that the spirits of the priests would in vengeance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +destroy them, Brébeuf began to assure him that his +mission was only to do good; whereupon the savage +replied by spitting in the priest's face; and the priest +thanked God that he was worthy of the same indignity +which had been put upon Jesus Christ. When one +faces his foes in such a spirit, there is absolutely +nothing to fear. And yet, after four months of these +experiences, there seems not to have been the slightest +sign of any good result. The savages were as invulnerable +to any moral or spiritual teachings as the chill +earth itself. Dumb brutes would have shown more +return for kindness than they. The saying of Chateaubriand, +that man without religion is the most dangerous +animal that walks the earth, found full justification +in these savages. Finally, Brébeuf and his +associate determined to withdraw from the absolutely +fruitless field, and began to retrace their steps towards +Huronia.</p> + +<p>It was near the middle of February, 1641, when they +began their retreat from the land of the Neuters. The +story of that retreat, as indeed of the whole mission, +has been most beautifully told, with a sympathetic fervency +impossible for one not richly endowed with faith +to simulate, by Dean Harris. Let his account of what +happened stand here:</p> + +<p>"The snow was falling when they left the village +Onguiara, crossed the Niagara River near Queenston, +ascended its banks and disappeared in the shadowy +forest. The path, which led through an unbroken +wilderness, lay buried in snow. The cold pierced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +them through and through. The cords on Fr. Chaumonot's +snow-shoe broke, and his stiffened fingers +could scarcely tie the knot. Innumerable flakes of +snow were falling from innumerable branches. Their +only food was a pittance of Indian corn mixed with +melted snow; their only guide, a compass. Worn and +spent with hardships, these saintly men, carrying in +sacks their portable altar, were returning to announce +to their priestly companions on the Wye the dismal +news of their melancholy failure and defeat. There +was not a hungry wolf that passed them but looked +back and half forgave their being human. There was +not a tree but looked down upon them with pity and +commiseration. Night was closing in when, spent with +fatigue, they saw smoke rising at a distance. Soon +they reached a clearing and descried before them a +cluster of bark lodges. Here these Christian soldiers +of the cross bivouacked for the night.</p> + +<p>"Early that evening while Chaumonot, worn with +traveling and overcome with sleep, threw himself to +rest on a bed that was not made up since the creation +of the world, Father Brébeuf, to escape for a time the +acrid and pungent smoke that filled the cabin, went +out to commune with God alone in prayer.... +He moved toward the margin of the woods, when +presently he stopped as if transfixed. Far away to the +southeast, high in the air and boldly outlined, a huge +cross floated suspended in mid-heaven. Was it stationary? +No, it moved toward him from the land of +the Iroquois. The saintly face lighted with unwonted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +splendor, for he saw in the vision the presage of the +martyr's crown. Tree and hillside, lodge and village, +faded away, and while the cross was still slowly +approaching, the soul of the great priest went out in +ecstasy, in loving adoration to his Lord and his God.... Overcome +with emotion, he exclaimed, 'Who +will separate me from the love of my Lord? Shall +tribulation, nakedness, peril, distress, or famine, or the +sword?' Emparadised in ecstatic vision, he again cries +out with enthusiastic loyalty, '<i>Sentio me vehementer +impelli ad moriendum pro Christo</i>'—'I feel within me +a mighty impulse to die for Christ'—and flinging himself +upon his knees as a victim for the sacrifice or a +holocaust for sin, he registered his wondrous vow to +meet martyrdom, when it came to him, with the joy +and resignation befitting a disciple of his Lord.</p> + +<p>"When he returned to himself the cross had faded +away, innumerable stars were brightly shining, the cold +was wrapping him in icy mantle, and he retraced his +footsteps to the smoky cabin. He flung himself beside +his weary brother and laid him down to rest. When +morning broke they began anew their toilsome journey, +holding friendly converse.</p> + +<p>"'Was the cross large?' asked Father Chaumonot.</p> + +<p>"'Large,' spoke back the other, 'yes, large enough +to crucify us all.'"</p> + +<p>It is idle to insist on judgments by the ordinary +standards in a case like this. As Parkman says, it +belongs not to history, but to psychology. Brébeuf +saw the luminous cross in the heavens above the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +Niagara; not the material, out-reaching arms of +Niagara's spray, rising columnar from the chasm, then +resting, with crosslike extensions on the quiet air, +white and pallid under the winter moon. Such phenomena +are not unusual above the cataract, but may +not be offered in explanation of the priest's vision. +He was in the neighborhood of Grimsby, full twenty +miles from the falls, when he saw the cross; much too +far away to catch the gleam of frosted spray. Nor is +it a gracious spirit which seeks a material explanation +for his vision. The cross truly presaged his martyrdom; +and although the feet of Father Brébeuf never +again sought the ungrateful land of the Neuters, yet +his visit and his vision were not wholly without fruit. +They endow local history with an example of pure +devotion to the betterment of others, unsurpassed in +all the annals of the holy orders. To Brébeuf the +miraculous cross foretold martyrdom, and thereby was +it a sign of conquest and of victory to this heroic +Constantine of the Niagara.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>After Brébeuf and Chaumonot had turned their backs +on the Neuters, the Niagara region was apparently +unvisited by white men for more than a quarter of a +century. These were not, however, years of peaceful +hunting and still more placid corn and pumpkin-growing, +such as some romantic writers have been fond of ascribing +to the red men when they were unmolested by the +whites. As a matter of fact, and as Fathers Dallion, +Brébeuf and Chaumonot had discovered, the people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +who claimed the banks of the lower reaches of the +Niagara as within their territory, were the embodiment +of all that was vile and barbarous. There is no record +that they had a village at the angle of lake and river, +where now stands old Fort Niagara. It would have +been strange, however, if they did not occasionally +occupy that sightly plateau with their wigwams or +huts, while they were laying in a supply of fish. If +trees ever covered the spot they were killed by early +camp-fires, probably long before the coming of the +whites. Among the earliest allusions to the point is +one which speaks of the difficulty of getting wood +there; and such a treeless tract, in this part of the +country, could usually be attributed to the denudation +consequent on Indian occupancy.</p> + +<p>A decade or so after the retreat of the missionaries +came that fierce Indian strife which annihilated the +Neuters and gave Niagara's banks into the keeping of +the fiercer but somewhat nobler Iroquois. The story +of this Indian war has been told with all possible +illumination from the few meager records that are +known; and it only concerns the present chronicle to +note that about 1650 the site of Fort Niagara passed +under Seneca domination. The Senecas had no permanent +town in the vicinity, but undoubtedly made it +a rendezvous for war parties, and for hunting and fishing +expeditions.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the Jesuits in their Relations, and after +them the cartographers in Europe, were making hearsay +allusions to the Niagara or locating it, with much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +inaccuracy, on their now grotesque maps. In 1648 +the Jesuit Ragueneau, writing to the Superior at Paris, +mentions Niagara, which he had never seen or approached, +as "a cataract of frightful height." L'Allemant +in the Relation published in 1642, had alluded +to the river, but not to the fall. Sanson, in 1656, put +"Ongiara" on his famous map; and four years later the +map of Creuxius, published with his great "Historiæ +Canadensis," gave our river and fall the Latin dignity +of "Ongiara Catarractes." One map-maker copied +from another, so that even by the middle of the seventeenth +century, the reading and student world—small +and ecclesiastical as it mostly was—began to have +some inkling of the main features and continental +position of the mid-lake region for the possession of +which, a little later, several Forts Niagara were to be +projected. It is not, however, until 1669 that we +come to another definite episode in the history of the +region.</p> + +<p>In that year came hither the Sulpitian missionaries, +François Dollier de Casson and René de Bréhant<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> de +Galinée. They were bent on carrying the cross to +nations hitherto unreached, on Western rivers. With +them was the young Robert Cavelier, known as La Salle, +who was less interested in carrying the cross than in +exploring the country. Their expedition left Montreal +July 6th, nine canoes in all. They made their way +up the St. Lawrence, skirted the south shore of Lake +Ontario, and on Aug. 10th were at Irondequoit Bay.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +They made a most eventful visit to the Seneca villages +south of the bay. Thence they continued westward, +apparently by Indian trails overland, and not by canoe. +De Galinée, who was the historian of the expedition, +says that they came to a river "one eighth of a league +broad and extremely rapid, forming the outlet or +communication from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario," and +he continues with a somewhat detailed account of Niagara +Falls, which, although he passed near them, he did +not turn aside to see. The Sulpitians and La Salle +crossed the river, apparently below Lewiston. They +may indeed have come to the river at its mouth, +skirting the lake shore. One may infer either course +from the narrative of de Galinée, which goes on to say +that five days after passing the river they "arrived at the +extremity of Lake Ontario, where there is a fine, large +sandy bay ... and where we unloaded our canoes."</p> + +<p>Pushing on westward, late in September, on the trail +between Burlington Bay and the Grand River, they met +Joliet, returning from his expedition in search of copper +mines on Lake Superior. This meeting in the wilderness +is a suggestive and picturesque subject, but we +may not dwell on it here. Joliet, though he had thus +preceded LaSalle and the Sulpitians in the exploration +of the lakes, had gone west by the old northern route +along the Ottawa, Lake Nipissing and the French River. +He was never on the Niagara, for after his meeting +with LaSalle, he continued eastward by way of the +Grand River valley and Lake Ontario. Fear of the +savages deterred him from coming by way of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +Niagara, and thereby, it is not unlikely, becoming +the white discoverer of Niagara Falls.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> He was the +first white man, so far as records relate, to come eastward +through the Detroit River and Lake Erie. Our +lake was therefore "discovered" from the west—a fact +perhaps without parallel in the history of American +exploration.</p> + +<p>After the meeting with Joliet, La Salle left the missionaries, +who, taking advantage of information had from +Joliet, followed the Grand River down to Lake Erie. +Subsequently they passed through Lake Erie to the westward, +the first of white men to explore the lake in that +direction. De Galinée's map (1669) is the first that +gives us the north shore of Lake Erie with approximate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +accuracy. On October 15th this devout man and his +companion reached Lake Erie, which they described +as "a vast sea, tossed by tempestuous winds." Deterred +by the lateness of the season from attempting further +travel by this course, they determined to winter where +they were, and built a cabin for their shelter.</p> + +<p>Occasionally they were visited in their hut by +Iroquois beaver hunters. For five months and eleven +days they remained in their winter quarters and on the +23d of March, 1670, being Passion Sunday, they +erected a cross as a memorial of their long sojourn. +The official record of the act is as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We the undersigned certify that we have seen affixed on the +lands of the lake called Erié the arms of the King of France with +this inscription: 'The year of salvation 1669, Clement IX. being +seated in St. Peter's chair, Louis XIV. reigning in France, M. de +Courcelle being Governor of New France, and M. Talon being +intendant therein for the King, there arrived in this place two +missionaries from Montreal accompanied by seven other Frenchmen, +who, the first of all European peoples, have wintered on this +lake, of which, as of a territory not occupied, they have taken +possession in the name of their King by the apposition of his +arms, which they have attached to the foot of this cross. In witness +whereof we have signed the present certificate.'</p> + +<p class="ralign"> +<span style="margin-right: 8em;">"FRANCOIS DOLLIER,</span><br /> +"Priest of the Diocese of Nantes in Brittany. <br /> +<span style="margin-right: 11.5em;">"DE GALINÉE,</span><br /> +"Deacon of the Diocese of Rennes in Brittany." +</p> +</div> + +<p>The winter was exceedingly mild, but the stream<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> +was still frozen on the 26th of March, when they portaged +their canoes and goods to the lake to resume<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +their westward journey. Unfortunately losing one of +their canoes in a gale they were obliged to divide their +party, four men with the luggage going in the two +remaining canoes; while the rest, including the missionaries, +undertook the wearisome journey on foot all +the way from Long Point to the mouth of the Kettle +Creek. De Galinée grows enthusiastic in his admiration +for the immense quantities of game and fruits opposite +Long Point and calls the country the terrestrial Paradise +of Canada. "The grapes were as large and as +sweet as the finest in France. The wine made from +them was as good as <i>vin de Grave</i>." He admires the +profusion of walnuts, chestnuts, wild apples and plums. +Bears were fatter and better to the palate than +the most "savory" pigs in France. Deer wandered +in herds of fifty to an hundred. Sometimes even two +hundred would be seen feeding together. Before arriving +at the sand beach which then connected Long Point +with the mainland they had to cross two streams. To +cross the first stream they were forced to walk four +leagues inland before they found a satisfactory place +to cross. One whole day was spent in constructing a +raft to cross Big Creek, and after another delay caused +by a severe snow-storm, they successfully effected a +crossing and found on the west side a marshy meadow +two hundred paces wide into which they sank to their +girdles in mud and slush. Beset by dangers and retarded +by inclement weather, they at last arrived at +Kettle Creek, where they expected to find the canoe +in which Joliet had come down Lake Huron and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +Detroit and which he had told them was hidden there. +Great was their disappointment to find that the Indians +had taken it. However, later in the day, while gathering +some wood for a fire, they found the canoe between +two logs and joyfully bore it to the lake. In +the vicinity of their encampment the hunters failed to +secure any game, and for four or five days the party +subsisted on boiled maize. The whole party then +paddled up the lake to a place where game was plentiful +and the hunters saw more than two hundred deer +in one herd, but missed their aim. Disheartened +at their failure and craving meat, they shot and +skinned a miserable wolf and had it ready for the kettle +when one of the men saw some thirty deer on the +other side of the small lake they were on. The party +succeeded in surrounding the deer and, forcing them +into the water, killed ten of them. Now well supplied +with both fresh and smoked meat, they continued their +journey, traveled nearly fifty miles in one day and +came to a beautiful sand beach (Point Pelée), where +they drew up their canoes and camped for the night. +During the night a terrific gale came up from the +northeast. Awakened by the storm they made all +shift to save their canoes and cargoes. Dollier's and +de Galinée's canoes were saved, but the other one was +swept away with its contents of provisions, goods for +barter, ammunition, and, worst of all, the altar service, +with which they intended establishing their mission +among the Pottawatamies.</p> + +<p>The loss of their altar service caused them to aban<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>don +the mission and they set out to return to Montreal, +but strangely enough chose the long, roundabout +journey by way of the Detroit, Lake Huron and the +French River, in preference to the route by which they +had come, or by the outlet of Lake Erie, which they had +crossed the autumn before. Thus de Galinée and Dollier +de Casson, like Joliet,—not to revert to Champlain +half a century earlier,—missed the opportunity, which +seemed to wait for them, of exploring the eastern end +of Lake Erie, of correctly mapping the Niagara and +observing and describing its incomparable cataract. +Obviously the Niagara region was shunned less on +account of its real difficulties, which were not then +known, than through terror of the Iroquois. Our two +Sulpitians reached Montreal June 18, 1670, which +date marks the close of the third missionary visitation +in the history of the Niagara.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>And now I approach the point at which many writers +of our local history have chosen to begin their story—the +famous expedition of La Salle and his companions +in 1678-'79. For the purpose of the present study we +may omit the more familiar aspects of that adventure, +and limit our regard to the acts of the holy men who +continue the interrupted chain of missionary work on the +Niagara. On December 6th, St. Nicholas Day, 1678, +with an advance party under La Motte de Lussiére, +came the Flemish Recollect, Louis Hennepin. As the +bark in which they had crossed stormy Lake Ontario +at length entered the Niagara, they chanted the Am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>brosian +hymn, "Te Deum Laudamus," and there is +no gainsaying the sincerity of that thank-offering for +perils escaped. Five days later, being encamped on +the present site of Niagara, Ont., Father Hennepin +celebrated the first mass ever said in the vicinity. A +few days later, on the site of Lewiston, he had completed +a bark chapel, in which was held the first Christian +service which had been held on the eastern side of +the Niagara since the visit of Brébeuf thirty-eight years +before. Father Hennepin has left abundant chronicles +of his activities on the Niagara. As soon as the construction +of the Griffon was begun above the falls a +chapel was established there, near the mouth of Cayuga +Creek. Having blessed this pioneer vessel of the +upper lakes, when she was launched, he set out for +Fort Frontenac in the interests of the enterprise, and +was accompanied to the Niagara, on his return, by the +Superior of the mission, Father Gabriel de la Ribourde, +and Fathers Zénobius Membré and Melithon Watteaux. +All through that summer these devoted priests shared +the varied labors of the camp. Hennepin tells us how +he and his companions toiled back and forth over the +portage around the falls, sometimes with their portable +altar, sometimes with provisions, rigging or other +equipment for the ship. "Father Gabriel," he says, +"though of sixty-five years of age, bore with great +vigor the fatigue of that journey, and went thrice up +and down those three mountains, which are pretty high +and steep." This glimpse of the saintly old priest is +a reminiscence to cherish in our local annals. He was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +the last of a noble family in Burgundy who gave up +worldly wealth and station to enter the Order of St. +Francis. He came to Canada in 1670, and was the +first Superior of the restored Recollect mission in that +country. There is a discrepancy between Hennepin +and Le Clercq as to his age; the former says he was +sixty-five years old in 1679, when he was on the Niagara; +the later speaks of him as being in his seventieth +year in 1680. Of the three missionaries who with +La Salle sailed up the Niagara in August, 1679, and +with prayers and hymns boldly faced the dangers of +the unknown lake, the venerable Father Gabriel was +first of all to receive the martyr's crown. A year +later, September 9, 1680, while engaged at his devotions, +he was basely murdered by three Indians. To +Father Membré there were allotted five years of missionary +labor before he, too, was to fall a victim to +the savage. Father Hennepin lived many years, and +his chronicles stand to-day as in some respects the +foundation of our local history. But cherish as we may +the memory of this trio of missionaries, the imagination +turns with a yet fonder regard back to the +devoted priest who was not permitted to voyage westward +from the Niagara with the gallant La Salle. +When the Griffon sailed, Father Melithon Watteaux +was left behind in the little palisaded house at Niagara +as chaplain. He takes his place in our history as the +first Catholic priest appointed to minister to whites in +New York State. On May 27, 1679, La Salle had made +a grant of land at Niagara to these Recollect Fathers,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +for a residence and cemetery, and this was the first +property in the present State of New York to which +the Catholic Church held title. Who can say what +were the experiences of the priest during the succeeding +winter in the loneliness and dangers of the savage-infested +wilderness? Nowhere have I as yet found +any detailed account of his sojourn. We know, however, +that it was not long. During the succeeding +years there was some passing to and fro. In 1680 La +Salle, returning east, passed the site of his ruined and +abandoned fort. He was again on the Niagara in 1681 +with a considerable party bound for the Miami. +Father Membré, who was with him, returned east in +October, 1682, by the Niagara route; and La Salle himself +passed down the river again in 1683—his last visit to +the Niagara. His blockhouse, within which was Father +Melithon's chapel, had been burned by the Senecas.</p> + +<p>From this time on for over half a century the +missionary work in our region centered at Fort Niagara, +which still stands, a manifold reminder of the +romantic past, at the mouth of the river. Four years +after La Salle's last passage through the Niagara—in +1687—the Marquis de Denonville led his famous +expedition against the Senecas. With him in this campaign +was a band of Western Indians, who were attended +by the Jesuit Father Enjalran. He was wounded +in the battle with the Senecas near Boughton Hill, but +appears to have accompanied de Denonville to his +rendezvous on the site of Fort Niagara. Here he undoubtedly +exercised his sacred office; and since the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +construction of Fort Niagara began at this time his +name may head the list of priests officiating at that +stronghold. He was soon after dispatched on a peace +mission to the West, which was the special scene of +his labors. His part, for some years to come, was to +be an important one as Superior of the Jesuit Mission +at Michillimackinac.</p> + +<p>As soon as Fort Niagara was garrisoned, Father Jean +de Lamberville was sent thither as chaplain. For +the student, it would be profitable to dwell at length +upon the ministrations of this devoted priest. He was +of the Society of Jesus, had come out to Canada in +1668, and labored in the Onondaga mission from 1671 +to 1687. His work is indelibly written on the history +of missions in our State. He was the innocent cause +of a party of Iroquois falling into the hands of the +French, who sent them to France, where they toiled +in the king's galleys. When de Denonville, in 1687, +left at Fort Niagara a garrison of one hundred men under +the Chevalier de la Mothe, Father Lamberville came to +minister to them. The hostile Iroquois had been dealt +a heavy blow, but a more insidious and dreadful enemy +soon appeared within the gates. The provisions which +had been left for the men proved utterly unfit for food, +so that disease, with astounding swiftness, swept away +most of the garrison, including the commander. Father +Lamberville, himself, was soon stricken down with the +scurvy. Every man in the fort would no doubt have +perished but for the timely arrival of a party of friendly +Miami Indians, through whose good offices the few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +survivors, Father Lamberville among them, were enabled +to make their way to Catarouquoi—now Kingston, +Ont. There he recovered; and he continued in +the Canadian missions until 1698, when he returned to +France.</p> + +<p>Not willing to see his ambitious fort on the Niagara +so soon abandoned, de Denonville sent out a new garrison +and with them came Father Pierre Milet. He +had labored, with rich results, among the Onondagas +and Oneidas. No sooner was he among his countrymen, +in this remote and forlorn corner of the earth, +than he took up his spiritual work with characteristic +zeal. On Good Friday of that year, 1688, in the +center of the square within the palisades, he caused to +be erected a great cross. It was of wood, eighteen +feet high, hewn from the forest trees and neatly framed. +On the arms of it was carved in abbreviated words the +sacred legend, "<i>Regnat, Vincit, Imperat Christus</i>," and +in the midst of it was engraven the Sacred Heart. +Surrounded by the officers of the garrison,—gallant +men of France, with shining records, some of them +were,—by the soldiers, laborers and friendly Indians, +Father Milet solemnly blessed it. Can you not see +the little band, kneeling about that symbol of conquest? +Around them were the humble cabins and +quarters of the soldiers. One of them, holding the +altar, was consecrated to worship. Beyond ran the +palisades and earthworks—feeble fortifications between +the feeble garrison and the limitless, foe-infested +wilderness. On one hand smiled the blue Ontario,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +and at their feet ran the gleaming Niagara, already a +synonym of hardship and suffering in the annals of +three of the religious orders. What wonder that the +sense of isolation and feebleness was borne in upon +the little band, or that they devoutly bowed before the +cross which was the visible emblem of their strength +and consolation in the wilderness. Where is the artist +who shall paint us this scene, unique in the annals of +any people?</p> + +<p>And yet, but a few months later—September 15th +of that year—the garrison was recalled, the post +abandoned, the palisades broken down, the cabins left +rifled and empty; and when priest and soldiers had +sailed away, and only the prowling wolf or the stealthy +Indian ventured near the spot, Father Milet's great +cross still loomed amid the solitude, a silent witness of +the faith which knows no vanquishing.</p> + +<p>There followed an interim in the occupancy of the +Niagara when neither sword nor altar held sway here; +nor was the altar reëstablished in our region until the +permanent rebuilding of Fort Niagara in 1726. True, +Father Charlevoix passed up the river in 1721, and has +left an interesting account of his journey, his view of +the falls, and his brief tarrying at the carrying-place—now +Lewiston. This spot was the principal rendezvous +of the region for many years; and here, at the cabin +of the interpreter Joncaire, where Father Charlevoix +was received, we may be sure that spiritual ministrations +were not omitted. A somewhat similar incident, +twenty-eight years later, was the coming to these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +shores of the Jesuit Father Bonnecamps. He was not +only the spiritual leader but appears to have acted as +pilot and guide to De Céloron's expedition—an +abortive attempt on the part of Louis XV. to reësablish +the claims of France to the inland regions of +America. The expedition came up the St. Lawrence +and through Lake Ontario, reaching Fort Niagara on +July 6, 1749. It passed up the river, across to the south +shore of Lake Erie and by way of Chautauqua Lake +and the Allegheny down the Ohio. Returning from +its utterly futile adventure, we find the party resting +at Fort Niagara for three days, October 19-21. Who +the resident chaplain was at the post at that date I +have not been able to ascertain; but we may be sure +that he had a glad greeting for Father Bonnecamps. +From 1726, when, as already mentioned, the fort was +rebuilt, until its surrender to Sir Wm. Johnson in +1759, a garrison was continually maintained, and without +doubt was constantly attended by a chaplain. +The register of the post during these years has never +been found—the presumption being that it was +destroyed by the English—so that the complete list +of priests who ministered there is not known.</p> + +<p>Only here and there from other sources do we glean +a name by which to continue the succession. Father +Crespel was stationed at Fort Niagara for about three +years from 1729, interrupting his ministrations there +with a journey to Detroit, where his order—the +Society of Jesus—had established a mission. Of Fort +Niagara at this time he says: "I found the place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +very agreeable; hunting and fishing were very productive; +the woods in their greatest beauty, and full of +walnut and chestnut trees, oaks, elms and some others, +far superior to any we see in France." But not even the +banks of the Niagara were to prove an earthly paradise. +"The fever," he continues, "soon destroyed the +pleasures we began to find, and much incommoded us, +until the beginning of autumn, which season dispelled +the unwholesome air. We passed the winter very quietly, +and would have passed it very agreeably, if the vessel +which was to have brought us refreshments had not +encountered a storm on the lake, and been obliged to +put back to Frontenac, which laid us under the necessity +of drinking nothing but water. As the winter advanced, +she dared not proceed, and we did not receive our +stores till May."</p> + +<p>Remember the utter isolation of this post and mission +at the period we are considering. To be sure, it +was a link in the chain of French posts, which included +Quebec, Montreal, Kingston, Niagara, Detroit, Michillimackinac; +but in winter the water route for transport +was closed, and Niagara, like the upper posts, was +thrown on its own resources for existence. There is +no place in our domain to-day which fairly may be +compared to it for isolation and remoteness. The +upper reaches of Alaskan rivers are scarcely less known +to the world than was the Niagara at the beginning of +the last century. A little fringe of settlement—hostile +settlement at that—stretched up the Hudson from +New York. Even the Mohawk Valley was still unset<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>tled. +From the Hudson to the remotest West the +wilderness stretched as a sea, and Fort Niagara was +buried in its midst. Although a full century had gone +by since Father Dallion first reached its shores, there +was now no trace of white men on the banks of the Niagara +save at the fort at its mouth, where Father Crespel +ministered, and at the carrying-place, where Joncaire +the interpreter lived with the Indians. Not even the +first Indian villages on Buffalo Creek were to be established +for half a century to come.</p> + +<p>After Father Crespel's return from Detroit, he remained +two years longer at Fort Niagara, caring for +the spiritual life of the little garrison, and learning the +Iroquois and Ottawah languages well enough to converse +with the Indians. "This enabled me," he +writes, "to enjoy their company when I took a walk +in the environs of our post." The ability to converse +with the Indians afterwards saved his life. When his +three years of residence at Niagara expired he was +relieved, according to the custom of his order, and he +passed a season in the convent at Quebec. While he +was undoubtedly immediately succeeded at Niagara by +another chaplain, I have been unable to learn his name +or aught of his ministrations. Indeed, there are but +few glimpses of the post to be had from 1733 to 1759, +when it fell into the hands of the English. One of the +most interesting of these is of the visit of the Sulpitian +missionary, the Abbé Piquet, who in 1751 came to Fort +Niagara from his successful mission at La Présentation—now +Ogdensburg. It is recorded of him that while here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +he exhorted the Senecas to beware of the white man's +brandy; his name may perhaps stand as that of the first +avowed temperance worker in the Niagara region.</p> + +<p>But the end of the French <i>régime</i> was at hand. For +more than a century our home region had been claimed +by France; for the last thirty-three years the lily-strewn +standard of Louis had flaunted defiance to the +English from the banks of the Niagara. Now on a +scorching July day the little fort found itself surrounded, +with Sir Wm. Johnson's cannon roaring from the +wilderness. There was a gallant defense, a baptism of +fire and blood, an honorable capitulation. But in that +fierce conflict at least one of the consecrated soldiers +of the cross—Father Claude Virot—fell before British +bullets; and when the triple cross of Britain floated over +Fort Niagara, the last altar raised by the French on the +east bank of the Niagara river had been overthrown.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>On this eventful day in 1759, when seemingly the +opportunities for the Catholic Church to continue its +work on the Niagara were at an end, there was, in the +poor parish of Maryborough, county Kildare, Ireland, +a little lad of six whose mission it was to be to bring +hither again the blessed offices of his faith. This was +Edmund Burke, afterwards Bishop of Zion, and first +Vicar-Apostolic of Nova Scotia, but whose name shines +not less in the annals of his church because of his zeal +as missionary in Upper Canada. Having come to +Quebec in 1786, he was, in 1794, commissioned Vicar-General +for the whole of Upper Canada—the province<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +having then been established two years. In that year +we find him at Niagara, where he was the first English-speaking +priest to hold Catholic service. True, there +was at the post that year a French missionary named +Le Dru, who could speak English; but he had been +ordered out of the province for cause. The field was +ripe for a man of Father Burke's character and energy. +His early mission was near Detroit; he was the first +English-speaking priest in Ohio, and it is worthy of +note that he was at Niagara on his way east, July 22, +1796—only three weeks before the British finally +evacuated Fort Niagara and the Americans took possession. +Through his efforts in that year, the Church +procured a large lot at Niagara, Ont., where he proposed +a missionary establishment. There had probably +never been a time, since the English conquest, when +there had not been Catholics among the troops quartered +on the Niagara; but under a British and Protestant +commandant no suitable provision for their worship had +been made. In 1798—two years after the British had +relinquished the fort on the east side of the river to the +Americans—Father Burke, being at the British garrison +on the Canadian side, wrote to Monseigneur Plessis:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Here I am at Niagara, instead of having carried out my original +design of going on to Detroit, thence returning to Kingston to +pass the winter. The commander of the garrison, annoyed by +the continual complaints of the civic officials against the Catholic +soldiers, who used to frequent the taverns during the hours of +service on Sunday, gave orders that officers and men should attend +the Protestant service. They had attended for three consecutive +Sundays when I represented to the commander the iniquity of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +order. He replied that he would send them to mass if the chaplain +was there, and he thought it very extraordinary that whilst a +chaplain was paid by the king for the battalion, instead of attending +to his duty he should be in charge of a mission, his men were +without religious services, and his sick were dying without the +sacraments. You see, therefore, that I have reason for stopping +short at Niagara; for we must not permit four companies, of +whom three fourths both of officers and men are Catholics, to +frequent the Protestant church.</p></div> + +<p>The name of the priest against whom the charge +of neglect appears to lie, was Duval; but it is not +clear that he had ever attended the troops to the +Niagara station. But after Father Burke came Father +Désjardines and an unbroken succession, with the district +fully organized in ecclesiastical jurisdiction.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>And now, although our story of mission work in the +Niagara region has been long—has reviewed the visitations +of two centuries—the reader may have remarked +the striking fact that every priest who came +into our territory, up to the opening of the nineteenth +century, came from Canada. This fact is the more +remarkable when we recall the long-continued and vigorous +missions of the Jesuits in what is now New York +State, extending west nearly to the Genesee River. But +the fact stands that no priest from those early establishments +made his way westward to the present site of +Buffalo. Fathers Lamberville and Milet had been stationed +among the Onondagas and Oneidas before coming +into our region at Fort Niagara; but they came +thither from Canada, by way of Lake Ontario, and not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +through the wilderness of Western New York. The +westernmost mission among the Iroquois was that of +Fathers Carheil and Garnier at Cayuga, where they +were at work ten years before La Salle built the Griffon +on the Niagara. It is interesting to note that this +mission, which was established nearest to our own +region, was "dedicated to God under the invocation +of St. Joseph," and that, two hundred years after, the +first Bishop of Buffalo obtained from his Holiness, +Pope Pius IX., permission that St. Joseph should be +the principal patron saint of this diocese.</p> + +<p>The earliest episcopal jurisdiction of the territory +now embraced in the city of Buffalo, dating from the +first visit of Dallion to the land of the Neuters, was +directly vested in the diocese of Rouen—for it was +the rule that regions new-visited belonged to the government +of the bishop from a port in whose diocese +the expedition bearing the missionary had sailed; and +this stood until a local ecclesiastical government was +formed; the first ecclesiastical association of our region, +on the New York side, therefore, is with that +grand old city, Rouen, the home of La Salle, scene of +the martyrdom of the Maid of Orleans, and the center, +through many centuries, of mighty impulses affecting +the New World. From 1657 to 1670 our region was +embraced in the jurisdiction of the Vicar Apostolic of +New France; and from 1670 to the Conquest in the +diocese of Quebec. There are involved here, of +course, all the questions which grew out of the strife +for possession of the Niagara region by the French,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +English and Dutch. Into these questions we may not +enter now further than to note that from 1684 the English +claimed jurisdiction of all the region on the east +bank of the Niagara and the present site of Buffalo. +This claim was in part based on the Treaty of Albany +at which the Senecas had signified their allegiance to +King Charles; and by that acquiescence nominally put +the east side of the Niagara under British rule. The +next year, when the Duke of York came to the throne, +he decreed that the Archbishop of Canterbury should +hold ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the whole Colony +of New York. It is very doubtful, however, if the +Archbishop of Canterbury had ever heard of the Niagara—the +first English translation of Hennepin did not +appear for fourteen years after this date; and nothing +is more unlikely than that the Senecas who visited the +Niagara at this period, or even the Dutch and English +traders who gave them rum for beaver-skins, had ever +heard of the Archbishop of Canterbury, or cared a +copper for his ecclesiastical jurisdiction, either on the +Niagara or even in the settlements on the Hudson. In +the New York Colony, and afterward State, the legal +discrimination against Catholics continued down to +1784, when the law which condemned Catholic priests +to imprisonment or even death was repealed. At the +date of its repeal there was not a Catholic congregation +in the State. Those Catholics who were among +the pioneer settlers of Western New York had to go as +far east as Albany to perform their religious duties or +get their children baptized. Four years later—in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +1788—our region was included in the newly-formed +diocese of Baltimore. In 1808 we came into the new +diocese of New York. Not until 1821 do we find +record of the visit of a priest to Buffalo. In 1829 the +Church acquired its first property here—through its +benefactor whose name and memory are preserved by +one of our noblest institutions—Louis Le Couteulx—and +the first Buffalo parish was established under the +Rev. Nicholas Mertz.</p> + +<p>We are coming very close to the present; and yet +still later, in 1847, when the diocese of Buffalo was +formed, there were but sixteen priests in the sixteen +great counties which constituted it. It is superfluous +to contrast that time with the present. There is nothing +more striking, to the student of the history and +development of our region during the last half century, +than the increase of the Catholic Church—in parishes +and schools, in means of propaganda, in material wealth +with its vast resources and power for good, and especially +in that personal zeal and unflagging devotion +which know no limit and no exhaustion, and are drawn +from the same source of strength that inspired and sustained +Brébeuf and Chaumonot and their fellow-heroes +of the cross on the banks of the Niagara.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<h1>The Paschal of the Great Pinch.</h1> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE PASCHAL OF THE GREAT PINCH.</h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><i>An Episode in the History of Fort Niagara; being an Extract +from the hitherto unknown Memoirs of the Chevalier De Tregay, +Lieutenant under the Sieur de Troyes, commanding at +Fort Denonville (now called Niagara), in the Year of Starvation +1687; with Captain Désbergeres at that remote fortress +from the joyfull Easter of 1688 till its abandonment; Soldier +of His Excellency the Sr. de Brissay, Marquis de Denonville, +Governor and Lieutenant General in New France; and humble +Servitor of His Serene Majesty Louis XIV.</i></p></div> + + +<p>It has been my lot to suffer in many far parts of +the earth; to bleed a little and go hungry for the +King; to lie freezing for fame and France—and +gain nothing thereby but a distemper; but so it is to +be a soldier.</p> + +<p>And I have seen trouble in my day. I have fought +in Flanders on an empty stomach, and have burned my +brain among the Spaniards so that I could neither fight +nor run away; but of all the heavy employment I ever +knew, naught can compare with what befel in the +remote parts of New France, where I was with the +troops that the Marquis de Denonville took through +the wilderness into the cantons of the Iroquois, and +afterwards employed to build a stockade and cabins at +the mouth of the Strait of Niagara, on the east side, +in the way where they go a beaver-hunting. "Fort<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +Denonville," the Sieur de Brissay decreed it should be +called, for he held great hopes of the service which it +should do him against both the Iroquois and the English; +but now that he has fallen into the disfavor that +has ever been the reward of faithful service in this +accursed land, his name is no more given even to that +unhappy spot, but rather it is called Fort Niagara.</p> + +<p>There were some hundreds of us all told that reached +that fair plateau, after we left the river of the Senecas. +It was mid-summer of the year of grace 1687, and we +made at first a pleasant camp, somewhat overlooking +the great lake, while to the west side of the point the +great river made good haven for our batteaux and +canoes. There was fine stir of air at night, so that we +slept wholesomely, and the wounded began to mend at +a great rate. And of a truth, tho' I have adventured +in many lands, I have seen no spot which in all its +demesne offered a fairer prospect to a man of taste. +On the north of us, like the great sea itself, lay the +Lake Ontario, which on a summer morning, when +touched by a little wind, with the sun aslant, was like +the lapis lazuli I have seen in the King's palace—very +blue, yet all bright with white and gold. The +river behind the camp ran mightily strong, yet for the +most part glassy and green like the precious green-stone +the lapidaries call verd-antique. Behind us to the south +lay the forest, and four leagues away rose the triple +mountains wherein is the great fall; but these are not +such mountains as we have in Italy and Spain, being +more of the nature of a great table-land, making an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +exceeding hard portage to reach the Strait of Erie +above the great fall.</p> + +<p>It was truly a most fit place for a fort, and the Marquis +de Denonville let none in his command rest day +or night until we had made a fortification, in part of +earth, surmounted by palisades which the soldiers cut +in the woods. There was much of hazard and fatigue +in this work, for the whole plain about the fort had no +trees; so that some of us went into the forest along +the shore to the eastward and some cut their sticks on +the west side of the river. It was hard work, getting +them up the high bank; but so pressed were we, somewhat +by fear of an attack, and even more by the zeal +of our commander, that in three days we had built +there a pretty good fort with four bastions, where we +put two great guns and some pattareras; and we had +begun to build some cabins on the four sides of the +square in the middle of it. And as we worked, our +number was constantly diminished; for the Sieurs Du +Luth and Durantaye, with that one-handed Chevalier +de Tonty of whom they tell so much, and our allies +the savages who had come from the Illinois to join the +Governor in his assault upon the Iroquois, as soon as +their wounded were able to be moved, took themselves +off up the Niagara and over the mountain portage I +have spoken of; for they kept a post and place of trade +at the Detroit, and at Michillimackinac. And then +presently the Marquis himself and all whom he would +let go sailed away around the great lake for Montreal. +But he ordered that an hundred, officers and men, stay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +behind to hold this new Fort Denonville. He +had placed in command over us the Sieur de +Troyes, of whom it would not become me to speak in +any wise ill.</p> + +<p>There were sour looks and sad, as the main force +marched to the batteaux. But the Marquis did not +choose to heed anything of that. We were put on +parade for the embarkation—though we made a sorry +show of it, for there were even then more rags than +lace or good leather—and His Excellency spoke a +farewell word in the hearing of us all.</p> + +<p>"You are to complete your quarters with all convenient +expediency," he said to De Troyes, who stood +attentive, before us. "There will be no lack of provision +sent. You have here in these waters the finest +fish in the world. There is naught to fear from these +Iroquois wasps—have we not just torn to pieces their +nests?"</p> + +<p>He said this with a fine bravado, though methought +he lacked somewhat of sincerity; for surely scattered +wasps might prove troublesome enough to those of us +who stayed behind. But De Troyes made no reply, +and saluted gravely. And so, with a jaunty word about +the pleasant spot where we were to abide, and a light +promise to send fresh troops in the spring, the General +took himself off, and we were left behind to look out +for the wasps. As the boats passed the sandbar and +turned to skirt the lake shore to the westward, we gave +them a salvo of musketry; but De Troyes raised his +hand—although the great Marquis was yet in sight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +and almost in hailing distance—and forbade another +discharge.</p> + +<p>"Save your powder," was all he said; and the very +brevity of it seemed to mean more than many words, +and put us into a low mood for that whole day.</p> + +<p>Now for a time that followed there was work enough +to keep each man busy, which is best for all who are in +this trade of war, especially in the wilderness. It was +on the third of August that M. de Brissay left us, he +having sent off some of the militia ahead of him; and +he bade M. de Vaudreuil stay behind for a space, to +help the Sieur de Troyes complete the fort and cabins, +and this he did right ably, for as all Canada and the +King himself know, M. de Vaudreuil was a man of +exceeding great energy and resources in these matters. +There was a vast deal of fetching and carrying, of hewing +and sawing and framing. And notwithstanding +that the sun of that climate was desperately hot the men +worked with good hearts, so that there was soon finished +an excellent lodgment for the commandant; with a +chimney of sticks and clay, and boards arranged into a +sort of bedstead; and this M. de Troyes shared with M. +de Vaudreuil, until such time as the latter gentleman +quit us. There were three other cabins built, with chimneys, +doors and little windows. We also constructed +a baking-house with a large oven and chimney, partly +covered with boards and the remainder with hurdles +and clay. We also built an extensive framed building +without chimney, and a large store-house with pillars +eight feet high, and made from time to time yet other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +constructions for the men and goods—though, <i>Dieu +défend</i>! we had spare room for both, soon enough. In +the square in the midst of the buildings we digged a +well; and although the water was sweet enough, yet +from the first, for lack of proper curbing and protection, +it was ever much roiled and impure when we drew +it, a detriment alike to health and cookery.</p> + +<p>M. de Vaudreuil seeing us at last well roofed, and +having directed for a little the getting of a store of +firewood, made his adieux. Even then, in those fine +August days, a spirit of discontent was among us, and +more than one spark of a soldier, who at the first camp +had been hot upon staying on the Niagara, sought now +to be taken in M. de Vaudreuil's escort. But that +gentleman replied, that he wished to make a good report +of us all to the Governor, and that, for his part, +he hoped he might come to us early in the spring, +with the promised detachment of troops. And so we +parted.</p> + +<p>Now the spring before, when we had all followed +the Marquis de Denonville across Lake Ontario to +harass the cantons of the Iroquois, this establishment +of a post on the Niagara was assuredly a part of that +gentleman's plan. It is not for me, who am but a +mere lieutenant of marines, to show how a great commander +should conduct his expeditions; yet I do declare +that while there was no lack of provision made +for killing such of the savages as would permit it, there +was next to none for maintaining troops who were to +be left penned up in the savages' country. We who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +were left at Fort Denonville had but few mattocks or +even axes. Of ammunition there was none too much. +In the Senecas' country we had destroyed thousands of +minots<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> of corn, but had brought along scarce a week's +rations of it to this corner. We had none of us gone +a-soldiering with our pockets full of seed, and even if +we had brought ample store of corn and pumpkin seed, +of lentils and salad plants, the season was too late to +have done much in gardening. We made some feeble +attempts at it; but no rain fell, the earth baked under +the sun so hard that great cracks came in it; and what +few shoots of corn and pumpkin thrust upward through +this parched soil, withered away before any strengthening +juices came in them. To hunt far from the fort +we durst not, save in considerable parties; so that if +we made ourselves safe from the savages, we also made +every other living thing safe against us. To fish was +well nigh our only recourse; but although many of our +men labored diligently at it, they met with but indifferent +return.</p> + +<p>Thus it was that our most ardent hopes, our very life +itself, hung upon the coming of the promised supplies. +There was joy at the fort when at length the sail of the +little bark was seen; even De Troyes, who had grown +exceeding grave and melancholy, took on again something +of his wonted spirit. But we were not quite yet +to be succored, for it was the season of the most light +and trifling airs, so that the bark for two days hung +idly on the shining lake, some leagues away from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +mouth of the river, while we idled and fretted like +children, impatient for her coming. When once we +had her within the bar, there was no time lost in unlading. +It was a poor soldier indeed who could not +work to secure the comfort of his own belly; and the +store was so ample that we felt secure for the winter, +come what might. The bark that fetched these things +had been so delayed by the calms, that she weighed +and sailed with the first favoring breeze; and it was +not until her sail had fall'n below the horizon that +we fairly had sight or smell of what she had brought.</p> + +<p>From the first the stores proved bad; still, we made +shift to use the best, eked out with what the near-by +forest and river afforded. For many weeks we saw no +foes. There was little work to do, and the men idled +through the days, with no word on their lips but to complain +of the food and wish for spring. When the frosts +began to fall we had a more vigorous spell of it; but +now for the first time appeared the Iroquois wasps. +One of our parties, which had gone toward the great +fall of the Niagara, lost two men; those who returned +reported that their comrades were taken all unawares +by the savages. Another party, seeking game to the +eastward where a stream cuts through the high bank on +its way to the lake,<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> never came back at all. Here we +found their bodies and buried them; but their scalps, +after the manner of these people, had been taken.</p> + +<p>Christmas drew on, but never was a sorrier season +kept by soldiers of France. De Troyes had fallen ill.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +Naught ailed him that we could see save low spirits and +a thinning of the blood, which made him too weak to +walk. The Father Jean de Lamberville, who had +stayed with us, and who would have been our hope +and consolation in those days, very early fell desperate +ill of a distemper, so that the men had not the help of +his ministrations and holy example. Others there were +who either from feebleness or lack of discipline openly +refused their daily duty and went unpunished. We +had fair store of brandy; and on Christmas eve those +of us who still held some soul for sport essayed to +lighten the hour. We brewed a comfortable draught, +built the blaze high, for the frosts were getting exceeding +sharp, gathered as many as could be had of officers +and worthy men into our cabin, and made brave to +sing the songs of France. And now here was a strange +thing: that while the hardiest and soundest amongst +us had made good show of cheer, had eaten the vile +food and tried to speak lightly of our ills, no sooner +did we hear our own voices in the songs that carried us +back to the pleasantries of our native land, than we +fell a-sobbing and weeping like children; which weakness +I attribute to the distemper that was already in +our blood.</p> + +<p>For the days that followed I have no heart to set +down much. We never went without the palisades +except well guarded to fetch firewood. This duty +indeed made the burden of every day. A prodigious +store of wood was needed, for the cold surpassed anything +I had ever known. The snow fell heavily, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +there were storms when for days the gale drave straight +across our bleak plateau. There was no blood in us +to withstand the icy blasts. Do what we would the chill +of the tomb was in the cabins where the men lay. +The wood-choppers one day, facing such a storm, fell +in the deep drifts just outside the gate. None durst go +out to them. The second day the wolves found them—and +we saw it all!</p> + +<p>There was not a charge of powder left in the fort. +There was not a mouthful of fit food. The biscuits +had from the first been full of worms and weevils. +The salted meat, either from the admixture of sea-water +through leaky casks, or from other cause, was rotten +beyond the power even of a starving man to hold.</p> + +<p><i>Le scorbut</i> broke out. I had seen it on shipboard, +and knew the signs. De Troyes now seldom left his +cabin; and when, in the way of duty, I made my devoirs, +and he asked after the men, I made shift to hide +the truth. But it could not be for long.</p> + +<p>"My poor fellows," he sighed one day, as he turned +feebly on his couch of planks, "it must be with all as +it is with me—see, look here, De Tregay, do you +know the sign?" and he bared his shrunken arm and +side.</p> + +<p>Indeed I knew the signs—the dry, pallid skin, with +the purple blotches and indurations. He saw I was at +a loss for words.</p> + +<p>"<i>Sang de Dieu!</i>" he cried, "Is this what soldiers +of France must come to, for the glory of"——. He +stopped short, as if lacking spirit to go on. "Now I be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>think +me," he added, in a melancholy voice, "it <i>is</i> what +soldiers must come to." Then, after a while he asked:</p> + +<p>"How many dead today, De Tregay?"</p> + +<p>How many dead! From a garrison of gallant men-at-arms +we had become a charnel-house. In six weeks +we had lost sixty men. From a hundred at the beginning +of autumn, we were now scarce forty, and February +was not gone. A few of us, perhaps with stouter +stomachs than the rest, did all the duty of the post. +We brought the firewood and we buried the dead—picking +the frozen clods with infinite toil, that we +might lay the bones of our comrades beyond the reach +of wolves. Sometimes it was the scurvy, sometimes it +was the cold, sometimes, methinks, it was naught but a +weak will—or as we say, the broken heart; but it +mattered not, the end was the same. More than twenty +died in March; and although we were now but a handful +of skeletons and accustomed to death, I had no +thought of sorrow or of grief, so dulled had my spirit +become, until one morning I found the brave De Troyes +drawing with frightful pains his dying breath. With the +name of a maid he loved upon his lips, the light went +out; and with heavy heart I buried him in that crowded +ground, and fain would have lain down with him.</p> + +<p>And now with our commander under the snow, what +little spirit still burned in the best of us seemed to die +down. I too bore the signs of the distemper, yet to +no great extent, for of all the garrison I had labored +by exercise to keep myself wholesome, and in the +woods I had tasted of barks and buds and roots of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +little herbs, hoping to find something akin in its juices +to the <i>herbe de scorbut</i><a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> which I have known to cure +sick sailors. But now I gave over these last efforts for +life; for, thought I, spring is tardy in these latitudes. +Many weeks must yet pass before the noble Marquis at +Montreal (where comforts are) will care to send the +promised troop. And the Western savages, our allies +the Illinois, the Ottawais, the Miamis, were they not +coming to succor us here and to raid the Iroquois cantons? +But of what account is the savage's word!</p> + +<p>So I thought, and I turned myself on my pallet. I +listened. There was no sound in all the place save the +beating of a sleet. "It is appointed," I said within +me. "Let the end come." And presently, being +numb with the cold, I thought I was on a sunny hillside +in Anjou. It was the time of the grape-harvest, +and the smell of the vines, laughter and sunshine filled +the air. Young lads and maids, playmates of my boyhood +days, came and took me by the hand....</p> + +<p>A twinge of pain made the vision pass. I opened +my eyes upon a huge savage, painted and bedaubed, +after their fashion. It was the grip of his vast fist that +had brought me back from Anjou.</p> + +<p>"The Iroquois, then," I thought, "have learned of +our extremity, and have broken in, to finish all. So +much the better," and I was for sinking back upon the +boards, when the savage took from a little pouch a +handful of the parched corn which they carry on their +expeditions. "Eat," he said, in the language of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +Miamis. And then I knew that relief had come—and +I knew no more for a space.</p> + +<p>Now this was Michitonka himself, who had led his +war party from beyond Lake Erie, where the Chevalier +de Tonty and Du Luth were, to see how we fared at +Fort Denonville, and to make an expedition against +the Senecas—of whom we saw no more, from the +time the Miamis arrived. There were of all our garrison +but twelve not dead, and among those who threw +off the distemper was the Father de Lamberville. His +recovery gave us the greatest joy. He lay for many +weeks at the very verge of the grave, and it was marvelous +to all to see his skin, which had been so empurpled +and full of malignant humors, come wholesome +and fair again. I have often remarked, in this hard +country, that of all Europeans the Fathers of the Holy +Orders may be brought nearest to death, and yet regain +their wonted health. They have the same prejudice +for life that the wildest savage has. But as for the rest +of us, who are neither savage nor holy, it is by a slim +chance that we live at all.</p> + +<p>Now the Father, and two or three of the others who +had the strength to risk it, set out with a part of Michitonka's +people to Cataracouy<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and Montreal, to carry +the news of our extremity. And on a soft April day as +we looked over lake, we saw a sail; and we knew that +we had kept the fort until the relief company was sent as +had been commanded. But it had been a great pinch.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now I am come to that which after all I chiefly set +out to write down; for I have ever held that great +woes should be passed over with few words, but it is +meet to dwell upon the hour of gladness. And this +hour was now arrived, when we saw approach the new +commandant, the Sieur Désbergeres, captain of one of +the companies of the Detachment of the Marine, and +with him the Father Milet, of the Society of Jesus. +There was a goodly company, whose names are well +writ on the history of this New France: the Sieurs De +la Mothe, La Rabelle, Demuratre de Clerin and de +Gemerais, and others, besides a host of fine fellows of +the common rank; with fresh food that meant life to us.</p> + +<p>Of all who came that April day, it was the Father +Milet who did the most. The very morning that he +landed, we knelt about him at mass; and scarce had +he rested in his cabin than he marked a spot in the +midst of the square, where a cross should stand, and +bade as many as could, get about the hewing of it; +and although I was yet feeble and might rest as I liked, +I chose to share in the work, for so I found my +pleasure. A fair straight oak was felled and well hewn, +and with infinite toil the timber was taken within the +palisades and further dressed; and while the carpenters +toiled to mortise the cross-piece and fasten it with pins, +Father Milet himself traced upon the arms the symbols +for the legend:</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 295px;"> +<img src="images/symbol.png" width="295" height="25" alt="Regnat, Vincit, Imperat Christus." title="Regnat, Vincit, Imperat Christus." /> +</div> + +<p>And these letters were well cut into the wood, in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +midst of them being the sign of the Sacred Heart. +We had it well made, and a place dug for it, on a +Thursday; and on the next morning, which was Good +Friday, the reverend Father placed his little portable +altar in the midst of the square, where we all, officers +and men, and even some of the Miamis who were yet +with us, assembled for the mass. Then we raised the +great cross and planted it firmly in the midst of the +little square. The service of the blessing of it lay +hold of my mind mightily, for my fancy was that this +great sign of victory had sprung from the midst of the +graves where De Troyes and four score of my comrades +lay; and being in this tender mood (for I was still +weak in body) the words which the Father read from his +breviary seemed to rest the more clearly in my mind.</p> + +<p>"<i>Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.</i>" Father +Milet had a good voice, with a sort of tenderness in +it, so that we were every one disposed to such silence +and attention, that I could even hear the little waves +lapping the shore below the fort. And when he began +with the "<i>Oramus</i>"—"<i>Rogamus te Domine sancte +Pater omnipotens</i>,"—I was that moved, by the joy of +it, and my own memories, that I wept—and I a +soldier!</p> + +<p>It may be believed that the Sunday which followed, +which was the Paschal, was kept by us with such worship +and rejoicing as had never yet been known in +those remote parts. Holy men had been on that +river before, it is true; but none had abode there for +long, nor had any set up so great a cross, nor had there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +ever such new life come to men as we knew at Fort +Denonville that Easter.</p> + +<p>For a space, all things went well. What with the +season (for spring ever inspires men to new undertakings) +and the bitter lessons learned in the great pinch +of the past winter, we were no more an idle set, but +kept all at work, and well. Yet the Iroquois pestered +us vastly, being set on thereto by the English, who +claimed this spot. And in September there came that +pilot Maheut, bringing his bark La General over the +shoal at the river's mouth all unexpected; and she was +scarce anchored in the little roadstead than Désbergeres +knew he was to abandon all. It was cause of chagrin +to the great Marquis, I make no doubt, thus to drop +the prize he had so tried to hold; but some of us in +the fort had no stomach for another winter on the +Niagara, and we made haste to execute the orders +which the Marquis de Denonville had sent. We put +the guns on board La General. We set the gate open, +and tore down the rows of pales on the south and east +sides of the square. Indeed the wind had long ago +begun this work, so that towards the lake the pales +(being but little set in the earth) had fallen or leaned +over, so they could readily have been scaled, or broken +through. But as the order was, we left the cabins and +quarters standing, with doors ajar, to welcome who +might come, Iroquois or wolf, for there was naught +within. But Father Milet took down from above the +door of his cabin the little sun dial. "The shadow of +the great cross falls divers ways," was his saying.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + +<p>Early the next morning, being the 15th of September, +of the year 1688, being ready for the embarkation, +Father Milet summoned us to the last mass he +might say in the place. It was a sad morning, for the +clouds hung heavy; the lake was of a somber and forbidding +cast, and the very touch in the air forebode +autumnal gales. As we knelt around the cross for the +last time, the ensign brought the standards which Désbergeres +had kept, and holding the staves, knelt also. +Certain Miamis, too, who were about to make the +Niagara portage, stayed to see what the priest might +do. And at the end of the office Father Milet did an +uncommon thing, for he was mightily moved. He +turned from us toward the cross, and throwing wide his +arms spoke the last word—"Amen."</p> + +<p>There were both gladness and sorrow in our hearts as +we embarked. Lake and sky took on the hue of lead, +foreboding storm. We durst carry but little sail, and at +the sunset hour were scarce a league off shore. As it +chanced, Father Milet and I stood together on the +deck and gazed through the gloom toward that dark +coast. While we thus stood, there came a rift betwixt +the banked clouds to the west, so that the sun, just as +it slipped from sight, lighted those Niagara shores, +and we saw but for an instant, above the blackness and +the desolation, the great cross as in fire or blood +gleam red.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<h1>With Bolton at Fort Niagara.</h1> + + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> +<h2>WITH BOLTON AT FORT NIAGARA.</h2> + + +<p>One pleasant September day in 1897 it was +my good fortune, under expert guidance, to follow +for a little the one solitary trail made by the +American patriots in Western New York during the Revolutionary +War, the one expedition of our colonial forces +approaching this region during that period. This was +the famous "raid" led by Gen. John Sullivan in the +summer of 1779. Our quest took us up the long hill +slope west of Conesus Lake, in what is now the town +of Groveland, Livingston Co., to a spot—among the +most memorable in the annals of Western New York, +yet unmarked and known to but a few—where a detachment +of Sullivan's army, under Lieut. Boyd, were +waylaid and massacred by the Indians. It was on the +13th of September that this tragedy occurred. Two +days later Gen. Sullivan, having accomplished the +main purpose of his raid—the destruction of Indian +villages and crops—turned back towards Pennsylvania, +returning to Easton, whence the expedition had started. +He had come within about eighty miles of the Niagara. +"Though I had it not in command," wrote Gen. +Sullivan in his report to the Secretary of War, "I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +should have ventured to have paid [Fort] Niagara a +visit, had I been supplied with fifteen days' provisions +in addition to what I had, which I am persuaded from +the bravery and ardor of our troops would have fallen +into our hands."<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> This was the nearest approach to +any attempt made by the Americans to enter this region +during that war.</p> + +<p>The events of Sullivan's expedition are well known. +Few episodes of the Revolution are more fully recorded. +But what is the reverse of the picture? What +lay at the other side of this Western New York wilderness +which Sullivan failed to penetrate? What was +going on, up and down the Niagara, and on Buffalo +Creek, during those momentous years? We know that +the region was British, that old Fort Niagara was its +garrison, the principal rendezvous of the Indians and +the base from which scalping parties set out to harry +the frontier settlements. The most dreadful frontier +tragedies of the war—Wyoming, Cherry Valley, and +others—were planned here and carried out with +British coöperation. But who were the men and what +were the incidents of the time, upon our Niagara +frontier? So far as I am aware, that period is for the +most part a blank in our histories. One may search +the books in vain for any adequate narrative—indeed +for any but the most meager data—of the history of +the Niagara region during the Revolution. The +materials are not lacking, they are in fact abundant. +In this paper I undertake only to give an inkling of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +the character of events in this region during that grave +period in our nation's history.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<p>In 1778, Colonel Haldimand, afterward Sir Frederick, +succeeded Gen. Guy Carleton in the command of the +British forces in Canada. He was Commander in +Chief, and Governor of Canada, until his recall in 1784. +Lord North was England's Prime Minister, Lord +George Germaine in charge of American affairs in the +Cabinet. Haldimand took up his residence at Quebec, +and therefrom, for a decade, administered the affairs of +the Canadian frontier with zeal and adroitness. He +was a thorough soldier, as his letters show. He was +also an adept in the treatment of matters which, like +the retention by the British of the frontier posts for +thirteen years after they had been ceded to the Americans +by treaty, called for dogged determination, veiled +behind diplomatic courtesies. The troops which he +commanded were scattered from the mouth of the St. +Lawrence to Lake Michigan; but to no part of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +long line of wilderness defense—a line which was substantially +the enemy's frontier—did he pay more +constant attention than to Fort Niagara. There were +good reasons for this. Fort Niagara was not only +the key to the upper lakes, the base of supplies for +Detroit, Michillimackinac and minor posts, but it +had long been an important trading post and the +principal rendezvous of the Six Nations, upon whose +peculiarly efficient services against the American +frontiers Sir Frederick relied scarcely less than he did +upon the British troops themselves. It was, therefore, +with no ordinary solicitude that he made his appointments +for Niagara.</p> + +<p>I cannot state positively the names of all officers in +command at Fort Niagara from the time war was begun, +down to 1777. Lieut. Lernault, afterwards at Detroit, +was here for a time; but about the spring of '77 +we find Fort Niagara put under the command of Lieut. +Col. Mason Bolton, of the 34th Royal Artillery. He +had then seen some years of service in America; had +campaigned in Florida and the West Indies; had been +sent to Mackinac and as far west as the Illinois; and it +was no slight tribute to his ability and fidelity, when Haldimand +put the Niagara frontier into his hands. Here, +for over three years, he was the chief in command. +In military rank, even if in nothing else, he was the +principal man in this region during the crucial period +of the Revolution. He commanded the garrison at +Fort Niagara, and its dependencies at Schlosser and +Fort Erie. Buffalo was then unthought of—it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +merely Te-hos-e-ro-ron, the place of the basswoods; +but at the Indian villages farther up Buffalo Creek, +which came into existence in 1780, the name of Col. +Bolton stood for the highest military authority of the +region. And yet, incredible as it may seem, after all +these years in which—to adapt Carlyle's phrase—the +Torch of History has been so assiduously brandished +about, I do not know of any printed book which offers +any information about Col. Mason Bolton or the life he +led here. Indeed, with one or two exceptions, in +which he is barely alluded to, I think all printed +literature may be searched in vain for so much as a +mention of his name.</p> + +<p>Other chief men of this frontier, at the period we +are considering, were Col. Guy Johnson, Superintendent +of Indian Affairs; Sir John Johnson, son of the +Sir William who captured Fort Niagara from the +French in 1759; Col. John Butler, of the Queen's +Rangers; his son Walter; Sayenqueraghta, the King +of the Senecas; Rowland Montour, his half-breed son-in-law; +and Brant, the Mohawk hero, who, equipped +with a New England schooling and enlightened by a +trip to England, here returned to lead out scalping +parties in the British interests.</p> + +<p>Col. Bolton had been for some time without authentic +news of the enemy, when on the morning of +December 14, 1777, the little garrison was thrown +into unwonted activity by the arrival of Capt. La +Mothe, who reported that Gen. Howe had taken Philadelphia, +and that the rebels had "sustained an incred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>ible +loss." By a forced march of Howe, La Mothe +averred, Gen. Washington had been defeated, "with +11,000 rebels killed, wounded and prisoners." Two +days later the excitement was increased by the arrival +at the fort of some Delaware Indians, who brought the +great news that Washington was killed and his army +totally routed. "I had a meeting of the chiefs of the +Six Nations," wrote Bolton to Gen. Carleton, "about +an hour after the express arrived and told them the +news. They seemed extremely pleased and have been +in good temper ever since their arrival." Oddly +enough, this news was confirmed by a soldier of the +7th Regiment, who had been taken prisoner by the +Americans, but had escaped and made his way to Niagara. +He further embellished the report by declaring +that 9,000 men under Lord Percy defeated 13,000 +rebels at Bear's Hill on December 20th, under Washington, +that Gates was sent for to take the command when +Washington was killed, and that 7,000 volunteers from +Ireland had joined Howe's army. Washington at this +time, the reader will remember, had gone into winter +quarters with his army at Valley Forge.</p> + +<p>There were 2,300 Indians at Fort Niagara at this +period, all making perpetual demands for beef, flour +and rum. The license of the jubilee over Washington's +death probably was limited only by the scantiness +of provisions and the impossibility of adding to the +store. Cold weather shut down on the establishment, +the vessels were laid up, and all winter long Col. +Bolton and his men had no word contradicting the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +report of Washington's death. As late as April 8th, +the following spring, he wrote to Gen. Carleton that +"all accounts confirm Washington being killed and his +army defeated in December last, and that Gates was +sent for to take the command."</p> + +<p>The British early were apprised of Sullivan's intended +raid, and although powerless to prevent it, kept well +posted as to its progress. The various parties which +Sullivan encountered, were directed from Fort Niagara. +"Since the rebels visit the Indian country," wrote +Gen. Haldimand to Sir John Johnson, September 14, +1779, "I am happy they are advancing so far. They +can never reach Niagara and their difficulties and +danger of retreat will, in proportion as they advance, +increase." Again he wrote twelve days later: "You +will be able to make your way to Niagara, and if the +rebels should be encouraged to advance as far as that +place, I am convinced that few of them will escape +from famine or the sword. All in my power to do for +you is to push up provisions, which shall be done with +the utmost vigor, while the river and lake remain navigable, +although it may throw me into great distress in +this part of the province, should anything happen to +prevent the arrival of the fall victuallers." There was +however genuine alarm at Fort Niagara, and even Sir +Frederick himself, though he wrote so confidently to +Bolton, in his letters to the Ministry expressed grave +apprehensions of what might happen.</p> + +<p>What did happen was bad enough for British interests, +for though the Americans turned back, the raid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +had driven in upon Bolton a horde of frightened, +hungry and irresponsible Indians, who had to be fed at +the King's expense and were a source of unmeasured +concern to the overworked commandant, notwithstanding +the independent organization of the Indian Department +which was effected.</p> + +<p>To arrive at a just idea of conditions hereabouts +at this period, we must keep in mind the relation of +the fluctuating population, Indians and whites, to the +uncertain and often inadequate food supply.</p> + +<p>Fort Niagara at this time—the fall of '78—was a +fortification 1,100 yards in circumference, with five +bastions and two blockhouses. Capt. John Johnson +thought 1,000 men were needed to defend it; "the +present strength," he wrote, "amounting to no more +than 200 rank and file, including fifteen men of the +Royal Artillery and the sick, a number barely sufficient +to defend the outworks (if they were in a state of +defense) and return the necessary sentries, should the +place be infested by a considerable force.... +With a garrison of 500 or a less number, it is impregnable +against all the savages in America, but if a +strong body of troops with artillery should move this +way, I believe no engineer who has ever seen these +works will say it can hold out any considerable time."</p> + +<p>On May 1st, 1778, there had been in the garrison at +Fort Niagara 311 men. Half a dozen more were stationed +at Fort Schlosser, and thirty-two at Fort Erie, a +total of 349, of whom 255 were reported as fit for duty. +At this time Maj. Butler's Rangers, numbering 106,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +had gone on "an expedition with the Indians towards +the settlements of Pennsylvania or New York, whichever +he finds most practicable and advantageous to the +King's service." These raids from Fort Niagara were +far more frequent than one would infer from the histories—even +from the American histories whose authors +are not to be suspected of purposely minimizing either +their number or effect. But it appears from the records +that not infrequently the expeditions accomplished +nothing of more consequence than to steal stock. +Horses, cattle and sheep were in more than one instance +driven away from settlements far down on the +Mohawk or Susquehanna, and brought back alive or +dead along the old trails, to Fort Niagara.</p> + +<p>To illustrate the methods of the time: In a report to +Brig. Gen. Powell, Maj. Butler wrote: "In the spring +of 1778 I found it absolutely requisite for the good of +His Majesty's service, with the consent and approbation +of Lt. Col. Bolton, and on the application of the +chiefs and warriors of the five united nations ..., +to proceed to the frontiers of the colonies in rebellion, +with as many officers and men of my corps as were +then raised, in order to protect the Indian settlements +and to annoy the enemy." At this time many of his +men were new recruits from the colonies, sons or +heads of Loyalist—or as we used to say, on this side +the border, of Tory—families. As they approached +American frontier settlements, the loyalty to King +George of some of his men became suspicious, so that +Butler issued a proclamation that all deserters, if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +apprehended, were to be shot. In the letter just quoted +from he reports that this order had a good effect. +Many curious circumstances arose at the time, due to +the British or American allegiance of men who before +the war had been friendly neighbors, but who now +met as hostiles, as captor and captive, sometimes as +victor and victim. There was a constant flight, by +one route and another, of Loyalist refugees to Fort +Niagara. Thus, by a return of Feb. 12, 1779, 1,346 +people were drawing rations from the stores of that +place, of whom sixty-four were "distressed families," +that is, Tories who had fled from the colonies (mostly +from the Mohawk Valley); and 445 Indians. The war +parties left early in the spring, and during the summer +the supply boats could get up from the lower stations. +Then came that march of destruction up the Genesee +Valley; winter shut down on lake and river communication, +and the most distressed period the frontier had +known under British rule set in. In October, immediately +after the invasion, Col. Bolton wrote (I quote +briefly from a very full report): "Joseph Brant ... +assures me that if 500 men had joined the Rangers in +time, there is no doubt that instead of 300, at least +1,000 warriors would have turned out, and with that +force he is convinced that Mr. Sullivan would have had +some reason to repent of his expedition; but the +Indians not being supported as they expected, thought +of nothing more than carrying off their families, and +we had at this Post the 21st of last month 5,036 to +supply with provisions, and notwithstanding a number<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +of parties have been sent out since, we have still on +the ground 3,678 to maintain. I am convinced your +Excellency will not be surprised, if I am extremely +alarmed, for to support such a multitude I think will be +absolutely impossible. I have requested of Major Butler +to try his utmost to prevail on the Indians whose +villages have been destroyed to go down to Montreal +for the winter, where, I have assured him, they would +be well taken care of; and to inform all the rest who +have not suffered by the enemy that they must return +home and take care of their corn."</p> + +<p>Neither plan worked as hoped for. It was difficult +to get the Indians to consent to go down the river, or +even to Carleton Island; and as Sullivan had destroyed +every village save two, few of the Senecas could be induced +to return into the Genesee country. Bolton's +urgent appeals for extra provisions were also doomed to +disappointment, owing to the lateness of the season or +the lack of transports.</p> + +<p>The winter after Sullivan's raid, Guy Johnson distributed +clothing to more than 3,000 Indians at Fort Niagara. +But the cost of clothing them was trifling compared +with the cost of feeding them. Expeditions against the +distant American settlements were planned, not more +through the desire for retaliation, than from the necessity +of reducing the number of dependents on Fort +Niagara. When the inroads on provisions grew serious, +the Indians were encouraged to go on the war-path. +But so exceedingly severe was the winter, so deep was +the snow on the trails, that not until the middle of Feb<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>ruary +could any parties be induced to set out. The +number camped around the fort, consuming the King's +pork, beef, flour and rum, rose as we have seen, to +more than 5,000. Many starved and many froze.</p> + +<p>Much could be said regarding the British policy of +dealing with the Indians at Fort Niagara, but I may +only touch upon the subject at this time. Haldimand, +and behind him the British Ministry, placed great +reliance upon them. The uniform instruction was +that the Indians should be maintained as allies. On +April 10, 1778, Lord George Germaine wrote to Gen. +Haldimand that the designs of the rebels against Niagara +and Detroit were not likely to be successful as +long as the Six Nations continued faithful. Presents, +honors, and the full license of the tomahawk and scalping-knife +were allowed them. With a view to promoting +their fidelity, Joseph Brant was made a colonel. +Significant, too, was the settling of a generous allowance +for life upon Brant's sister, Sir William Johnson's consort; +which act was approved, about this time, by the +august council at Whitehall.</p> + +<p>The British watched the state of the Indian mind as +the sailor watches his barometer at the coming of a +storm. And the Indian mind, though always cunning, +was sometimes childlike in the directness and simplicity +of its conclusions. The constant flight to Fort Niagara +of refugee Tories was remarked by the savages, +and in turn noted and reported to Gen. Haldimand. +"The frequent passing of white people to Niagara," +wrote Capt. John Johnson to Gen. Carleton, October<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +6, 1778, "is much taken note of by the Indians, who +say they are running away and that they (the Tories) +have begun the quarrel and leave them (the Indians) to +defend it." However, Johnson counted on being able +to change their minds, for he added: "I hope in my +next to inform you of giving the rebels an eternal +thrashing."</p> + +<p>The usual British good sense—the national tradesman's +instinct—seems to have been temporarily suspended, +held in abeyance, at the demands of these +Indians. In his report of May 12, '78, Col. Bolton +writes that he has approved bills for nearly £18,000 +"for sundries furnished savages which Maj. Butler +thought absolutely necessary, notwithstanding all the +presents sent to their posts last year; 2,700 being +assembled at a time when I little expected such a +number, obliged me to send to Detroit for a supply of +provisions, and to buy up all the cattle, etc., that +could possibly be procured, otherwise this garrison +must have been distressed or the savages offended, and +of course, I suppose, would have joined the rebels. +Even after all that was done for them they scarce +seemed satisfied." In June he writes that only eight +out of twenty puncheons of rum ordered for Fort Niagara +had been received, and that "much wine has been +given to the savages that was intended for this post."</p> + +<p>One reads in this old correspondence, with mingled +amusement and amazement, of the marvelous attentions +paid these wily savages. Childlike, whatever they +saw in the cargoes of the merchants, they wanted, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +England humored and pampered them, lest they transfer +their affections. We have Guy Johnson's word for +it, under date of Niagara, July 3, 1780, that "many +of the Indians will no longer wear tinsel lace, and are +become good judges of gold and silver. They frequently +demand and have received wine, tea, coffee, +candles and many such articles, and they are frequently +nice in the choice of the finest black and other cloth +for blankets, and the best linnen and cambrick with +other things needless to enumerate.... The Six +Nations are not so fond of gaudy colors as of good and +substantial things, but they are passionately fond of +silver ornaments and neat arrows." Elsewhere in +these letters a requisition for port wine is explained on +the ground that it was demanded by the chiefs when +they were sick—dainty treatment, truly, for stalwart +savages whose more accustomed diet was cornmeal and +water, and who could feast, when fortune favored, on +the reeking entrails of a dead horse.</p> + +<p>Now and then, it is true, advantages were taken of +the Indians in ways which, presumably, it was thought +they would not detect; all, we must grant, in the interest +of economy. One was in the matter of powder. +The Indians were furnished with a grade inferior to +the garrison powder. This was shown by a series of +tests made at Fort Niagara by order of Brig. Gen. +Powell—Col. Bolton's successor—on July 10, 1782. +We may suppose it to have been an agreeable summer +day, that there was leisure at the fort to indulge in +experiments, and that there were no astute Indians on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +hand to be unduly edified by the result. At Gen. +Powell's order an eight-inch mortar was elevated to +forty-five degrees, and six rounds fired, to find out how +far one half a pound of powder would throw a forty-six +pound shell. The first trial, with the garrison powder, +sent the shell 239 yards. For rounds two and three Indian +Department powder was used; the fine-glazed kind +sent the shell eighty-two yards, the coarser grain carried +it but seventy-nine yards. Once more the garrison +powder was used; the shell flew 243 yards, while +a second trial of the two sorts of Indian Department +powder sent it but eighty-four and seventy-six yards, +or about three to one in favor of the white man. With +the garrison powder, a musket and carbine ball went +through a two and one-quarter-inch oak plank, at the +distance of fifty yards, and lodged in one six inches +behind it; but with the Indian powder these balls +would not go through the first plank.</p> + +<p>This seems like taking a base advantage of the trustful +Indian ally, especially since he was to use his powder +against the common foe, the American rebel; in +reality, however, the Indians were wasteful and irresponsible, +and squandered their ammunition on the little +birds of the forest and even in harmless but expensive +salvos into the empty air.</p> + +<p>Another economy was practiced in the Indian Department: +when the stock ran low the rum was watered. +Sometimes the precious contents of the casks +were augmented one third, sometimes even two thirds, +with the more abundant beverage from Niagara River, so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +that the garrison rum, like the garrison powder, "carried" +two or three times as well as did that of the +Indian Department; but whether this had a salutary +effect upon the thirsty recipients is a problem the solution +of which lies outside the range of the exact historian.</p> + +<p>Difficult as it was to hold the allegiance of the savage, +it was harder yet—nay, it was impossible—to +make him fight according to the rules of civilized warfare. +The British Government from the Ministry down +stand in history in an equivocal position in this matter. +Over and over again in the correspondence which I +have examined, one finds vigorous condemnation of +the Indian method of slaughter of women and children, +and the torture of captives. Over and over again +the officers are urged not to allow it; and over and +over again they report, after a raid, that they deplore +the acts of wantonness which were committed, and +which they were unable to prevent. But nowhere do I +find any suggestion that the services of the Indians be +dispensed with. Throughout the Revolution, the Senecas, +Cayugas, Onondagas and Delawares—for the +last, also, were often at Fort Niagara—were sent +against the Americans, by the British. The Oneidas, +as is well known, were divided and vacillating in their +allegiance. In August, 1780, 132 of them who hitherto +had been ostensibly friendly to the Americans, +were induced to go to Niagara and give their pledges +to the British. When they arrived Guy Johnson put +on a severe front and censured them for their lack of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +steadfastness to the King. According to him, some +500 Oneidas in all came to the fort that year and +declared themselves ready to fight the Americans. +The last party that arrived delivered up to the Superintendent +a commission which, he says, "the Rebels +had issued with a view to form the Oneidas into a +corps, ... they also delivered up to me the +Rebel flag."</p> + +<p>So far as I am aware this is the first mention of the +Stars and Stripes on the banks of the Niagara. By +resolution of June 14, 1777, the American Congress +had decreed "That the flag of the thirteen United +States be thirteen stripes alternate red and white; that +the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing +a new constellation." A little over three +years had passed since John Paul Jones had first flung +to the breeze, at the mast of his ship Ranger, this +bright banner of the new nation. It was not to appear +in a British port for two and a half years to come; +sixteen years were to pass before it could fly triumphant +over the old walls of Fort Niagara; but France had +saluted it, Americans were fighting for it, and although +it is first found here in hostile hands, yet I like to reckon +from that August day in 1780, the beginning, if in +prophecy only, of the reign of that new constellation +over the Niagara region.</p> + +<p>Col. Bolton's life at Fort Niagara was one of infinite +care. Besides the routine of the garrison, he was constantly +harrassed by the demands of the Indians, whom +the British did not wish to feed, but whom they dared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +not offend. The old fort, which now sleeps so quietly +at the mouth of the river, was a busy place in those +days. There was constant coming and going. Schooners, +snows<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> and batteaux with provisions from Quebec, +or with munitions of war or detachments of troops +for Detroit or Michillimackinac, were constantly arriving. +I question if the lower Niagara were not busier +in that period than it is now. The transfer of supplies +around the falls—the "great portage"—was hard +and tedious work. Not Quebec, but Great Britain, was +the real base of supplies. There were many detentions, +and constant interruption in shipment, at every +stage of the way. Sometimes a cargo of salt pork +from Ireland or flour from London would reach Quebec +too late in the summer to admit of transfer to the +posts until spring. Sometimes, in crossing Lake Ontario, +the provisions would be damaged so as to be unfit +for use; sometimes they would be lost. Then not +only the garrison at Niagara had to face starvation, but +Col. Bolton soon had his ears ringing with messages +and maledictions from Detroit and Mackinac, buried +still farther in the wilderness, and all looking to Niagara +for food and clothing. At such times of distress +the upper posts questioned whether goods intended for +them were not irregularly held at Niagara; the meanwhile, +Col. Bolton would be straining every effort to get +provisions enough to keep his own command from star<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>vation. +Indian supplies and traders' goods, too, were +liable to loss and detention; and on very slight provocation, +the demands of the Indians grew insolent.</p> + +<p>There were constant desertions, too, among the +troops. Indeed, there seems never to have been a time +at Fort Niagara when desertions were not frequent, and, +more than once, so numerous as to threaten the very +existence of the garrison. This, however, not in Bolton's +time. As the correspondence shows, he enjoyed +the utmost confidence of his superiors, and there is +nothing to indicate that his men were not as devoted +to him as any officer could expect at a frontier post +where service meant hard work and possible starvation.</p> + +<p>Frequent as had been the raids against the settlements +before the expedition of Sullivan, they became +thereafter even more frequent; and, if less disastrous, +they were so merely because the American frontier +settlements had already paid their utmost tribute to Butler +and Brant. The expeditions, along certain much-worn +trails, had to go farther and farther in order to +find foes to attack or cattle to steal. This was especially +so in the valleys of the Mohawk and Susquehanna; +yet in one quarter and another this border warfare +went on, and there is no lack of evidence, in the +official correspondence, of its effectiveness. Thus, +writing from Fort Niagara, August 24, 1780, Guy +Johnson reports: "I have the pleasure to inform your +excellency that the partys who subdivided after Capt. +Brant's success at the Cleysburg"—an expedition +which he had previously reported—"have all been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +successful; that Capt. Brant has destroyed twenty +houses in Schoharie and taken and killed twelve persons, +besides releasing several women and children. Among +the prisoners is Lieut. Vrooman, the settlement of that +name being that which was destroyed. The other +divisions of that party have been also successful, particularly +Capt. David's party, and the number of killed +and taken by them within that time, so far as it has +come to my hands, is, killed, thirty-five, taken, forty-six, +released, forty.... The remaining inhabitants +on the frontiers are drawing in so as to deprive +the rebels of any useful resources from them. I have +at present on service, several partys that set out within +one and the same week, and I apprehend that falling +on the frontiers in different places at the same time will +have a good effect." September 18th he writes, telling +of the destruction of "Kleysberg," "containing a +church, 100 houses and as many barnes, besides mills +and 500 cattle and horses." In the same letter he +wrote: "I have now 405 warriors out in different +parties and quarters, exclusive of some marched from +Kadaragawas.... The greater part of the rest +are at their planting grounds, and many sick here, as +fevers and fluxes have for some time prevailed at this +Post." October 1st he reports the number of men in +the war parties sent out from Fort Niagara as 892. A +return, dated June 30, 1781, shows that the war parties +"have killed and taken during the season already 150 +persons." September 30th he reports an expedition +under Walter Johnson and Montour, in which about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +"twenty rebels" were killed; and on that day Capt. +Nelles arrived with eleven prisoners taken in Pennsylvania. +A postscript to this letter says: "Since writing, +I have received the disagreeable news of the death +of the gallant Montour, who died of the wounds he +received in the action before related. He was a chief +of the greatest spirit and readiness, and his death is a +loss." We can well believe that; for Montour, who, +from the American view-point, had the reputation of +being a fiend incarnate, had indeed shown "spirit and +readiness" in stealing cattle, burning log cabins, killing +and scalping their occupants or bringing them +captive to Fort Niagara.</p> + +<p>In another paper<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> I have stated that I have traced out +the individual experiences in captivity of thirty-two of +these Americans, who were taken by the Indians and +British and brought as prisoners to Fort Niagara. How +much might be done on this line may be judged from a +review of Col. Johnson's transactions, furnished by that +officer at Montreal, March 24, 1782, in which it is +stated that the number of Americans killed and taken +captive by parties from Fort Niagara, amounted at that +time to near 900. The time was rife with like experiences. +For instance, there was the famous raid on +Cherry Valley, from which Mrs. Jane Campbell and +her four children, after a long detention among the +Indians, were brought to Fort Niagara. There was +Jane Moore, who was also taken at Cherry Valley, and +who subsequently was married to Capt. Powell of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +Niagara garrison in the winter of 1779—the ceremony, +by the Church of England service, so impressing +Joseph Brant that he immediately led up to the +minister the squaw with whom he had been living for a +long time, and insisted on being married over again, +white man's fashion. There was Lieut. Col. Stacia, +another prisoner from Cherry Valley, whose head +Molly Brant wanted for a football. Some of the stories +of these captives, like that of Alexander Harper, who +ran the gauntlet at Fort Niagara (the ordeal apparently +being made light in his case), are familiar to readers +of our history; others, I venture to say, are unknown. +For instance, there were John and Robert Brice, two +little boys, who were taken in 1779 near Rensselaerville +by a scouting party, and brought, with other prisoners +and eight scalps, to Fort Niagara. But they did not +come together. Robert, who was but eleven years old, +was taken to Fort Erie and sold to a lake sailor for the +sum of £3. This little Son of the Revolution was kept +on the upper lakes until 1783, when he was summoned +to Fort Niagara where he met his brother John, from +whom he had parted near the mouth of the Unadilla +River some four years before. They were sent to +Montreal with nearly 200 liberated captives, and ultimately +the boys reached Albany and their friends. +Then there is the story of Nancy Bundy, who, her husband +and children being killed, was brought to Fort +Niagara and sold into servitude for $8. There was the +famous Indian fighter, Moses Van Campen, whose adventures +and captivity in our region are the subject<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +of a whole book. There were Horatio Jones and +Jasper Parrish, who passed from Indian captives into +the useful role of interpreters for the whites.</p> + +<p>Thus I might go on, naming by the score the heroes +and heroines of Indian captivities whose sufferings +and whose adventures make up the most romantic +chapter in our home annals, as yet for the most part +unwritten. But I take time now to dwell, briefly as +possible, upon but one of these captivities—one of +the notable incidents during Col. Bolton's time at Fort +Niagara. This was the capture of the Gilbert family. +It made so great a stir, even in those days accustomed +to war and Indian raids, that in 1784 a little book +was published in Philadelphia giving the history of it. +The original edition<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> has long since been one of the +scarcest of Americana. But in the unpublished correspondence +between Gen. Haldimand and the officers at +Fort Niagara, I find sundry allusions to "the Quaker's +family," and statements which go to show that the +British at least were disposed to treat them well, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +to effect their exchange as soon as possible. Notwithstanding, +it was a long and cruel captivity, and presents +some features of peculiar significance in our local +history.</p> + +<p>About sunrise on the morning of April 25, 1780, +a party of eleven painted Indians suddenly issued from +the woods bordering Mahoning Creek, in Northampton +County, Penn. They had come from Fort Niagara, and +were one of those scalping parties for the success of +which so many encouraging messages had passed from +Whitehall to Quebec, and from Quebec to the frontier, +and to stimulate which Guy Johnson had been so lavish +with the fine linen, silver ornaments and port wine. +The party was commanded by Rowland Montour, John +Montour being second in command. Undiscovered, +they surrounded the log house of the old Quaker +miller, Benjamin Gilbert. With tomahawk raised and +flint-locks cocked they suddenly appeared at door and +windows. The old Quaker offered his hand as a +brother. It was refused. Partly from the Quaker +habit of non-resistance, partly from the obvious certainty +that to attempt to escape meant death, the whole +household submitted to be bound, while their home +was plundered and burned. Loading three of Gilbert's +horses with booty, and placing heavy packs on +the back of each prisoner old enough to bear them, the +expedition took the trail for Fort Niagara, more than +200 miles away. This was "war" in "the good old +days."</p> + +<p>There were twelve prisoners in the party, of whom<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +but five were men. The patriarch of the household, +Benjamin, was sixty-nine years old; Elizabeth, his wife, +was fifty-five; Joseph, Benjamin's son by a former wife, +aged forty-one; another son, Jesse, aged nineteen, +and his wife Sarah, the same age. There were three +younger children, Rebecca, Abner and Elizabeth, +respectively sixteen, fourteen and twelve; Thomas +Peart, son to Benjamin Gilbert's wife by a former +husband, aged twenty-three; a nephew, Benjamin Gilbert, +aged eleven; a hired man, Andrew Harrigar, +twenty-six; and Abigail Dodson, the fourteen-year-old +daughter of a neighbor; she had had the ill-luck to +come to Gilbert's mill that morning for grist, and was +taken with the rest. Half a mile distant lived Mrs. +Gilbert's oldest son, Benjamin Peart, aged twenty-seven, +his wife Elizabeth, who was but twenty, and +their nine-months-old child. Montour added these to +his party, making fifteen prisoners in all, burned their +house and urged all along the trail, their first stop being +near "Mochunk." (Mauch Chunk.)</p> + +<p>I must omit most of the details of their march northward. +On the evening of the first day Benjamin Peart +fainted from fatigue and Rowland Montour was with +difficulty restrained from tomahawking him. At night +the men prisoners were secured in a way which was +usual on these raids, throughout Western New York and +Pennsylvania, during those dismal years. The Indians +cut down a sapling five or six inches in diameter, and +cut notches in it large enough to receive the ankles of +the prisoners. After fixing their legs in these notches,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +they placed another pole over the first, and thus secured +them as in stocks. This upper pole was then crossed +at each end by stakes driven into the ground. The +prisoners thus lay on the ground, on their backs. +Straps or ropes around their necks were made fast to +near-by trees. Sometimes a blanket was granted them +for covering, sometimes not. What rest might be had, +preparatory to another day's forced march, I leave to +the imagination.</p> + +<p>During the early stages of this march the old couple +were constantly threatened with death, because unable +to keep up. On the fourth day four negroes who +claimed that they were loyal to the King, that they +had escaped from the Americans and had set out for +Fort Niagara, were taken up by Montour from a camp +where he had left them on his way down the valley. +These negroes frequently whipped and tortured the +prisoners for sport, Montour making no objection. +On the 4th of May, the Indians separated into two +companies; one taking the westward path, and with +this party went Thomas Peart, Joseph Gilbert, Benjamin +Gilbert—the little boy of eleven—and Sarah, +wife of Jesse. The others kept on the northerly +course. Andrew Harrigar, terrified by the Indian +boast that those who had gone with the other party +"were killed and scalped, and you may expect the same +fate tonight," took a kettle, under pretence of bringing +water, but ran away under cover of darkness. After incredible +hardships he regained the settlements. His +escape so angered Rowland Montour that he threw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +Jesse Gilbert down, and lifted his tomahawk for the +fatal blow; Elizabeth, Jesse's mother, knelt over him, +pressed her head to her son's brow and begged the +captain to spare his life. Montour kicked her over and +tied them both by their necks to a tree; after a time, +his passion cooling, he loosed them, bade them pack +up and take the trail. This is but a sample incident. +I pass over many.</p> + +<p>None suffered more on the march than Elizabeth +Peart, the girl mother. The Indians would not let her +husband relieve her by carrying her child, and she was +ever the victim of the whimsical moods of her captors. +At one time they would let her ride one of the horses; +at another, would compel her to walk, carrying the +child, and would beat her if she lagged behind. By +the 14th of May Elizabeth Gilbert had become so +weak that she could only keep the trail when led and +supported by her children. On this day the main +party was rejoined by a portion of the party that had +branched off to westward; with them were two of the +four captives, Benjamin Gilbert, Jr., and Sarah, wife of +Jesse. On this day old Benjamin was painted black, +the custom of the Indians with prisoners whom they +intended to kill. Later on they were joined by British +soldiers, who took away the four negroes and did +something to alleviate the sufferings of the white +prisoners. The expedition had exhausted its provisions +and all that had been taken from the Gilberts. +A chance hedgehog, and roots dug in the woods, sustained +them for some days. May the 17th they ferried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +across the Genesee River on a log raft. Provisions +were brought from Fort Niagara, an Indian having been +sent ahead, on the best horse; and on the morning of +the 21st of May they heard, faintly booming beyond +the intervening forest, the morning gun at Fort Niagara. +An incident of that day's march was a meeting +with Montour's wife. She was the daughter of the +great Seneca Sayenqueraghta, the man who led the Indians +at Wyoming,<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> and whose influence was greater +in this region, at the time we are studying, than even +that of Brant himself. He was the Old King of the +Senecas, called Old Smoke by the whites. Smoke's +Creek, the well-known stream which empties into +Lake Erie just beyond the southwest limit of Buffalo, +between South Park and Woodlawn Beach, preserves +his name to our day. It was there that he lived in +his last years; and somewhere on its margin, in a +now unknown grave, he was buried. His daughter +the "Princess," was, next to Molly Brant, the grandest +Indian woman of the time on the Niagara. As she +met the wretched Gilberts, "she was dressed altogether +in the Indian costume, and was shining with gold lace +and silver baubles." To her Rowland Montour presented +the girl Rebecca, as a daughter. The princess +took a silver ring from her finger and put it on Rebecca's, +which act completed the adoption of this little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +Quaker maid of sixteen into one of the most famous—possibly +the most infamous—family of the Niagara +region during the Revolutionary period.</p> + +<p>At a village not far from Fort Niagara, apparently +near the present Tuscarora village on the heights east +of Lewiston, Montour painted Jesse, Abner, Rebecca +and Elizabeth Gilbert, Jr., as Indians are painted, and +gave each a belt of wampum; but while these marks of +favor were shown to the young people, the mother, because +of her feebleness, was continually the victim of +the displeasure and the blows of the Indians. On May +23d, being at the Landing—what is now Lewiston—they +were visited by Captains Powell and Dace +from the fort, and the next day, just one month +from the time of their capture, they trudged down +the trail which is now the pleasant river road, towards +the old fort, protected with difficulty from the blows of +the Indians along the way.</p> + +<p>Now followed the dispersion of this unhappy family. +After the Indian custom, the young and active prisoners +were sought by the Indians for adoption. Many brave +American boys went out to live, in the most menial +servitude, among the Senecas and other tribes who +during the later years of the Revolution lived on the +Genesee, the Tonawanda, Buffalo, Cazenove, Smoke's, +and Cattaraugus creeks. The old man and his wife +and their son Jesse were surrendered to Col. Johnson. +Benjamin Peart, Mrs. Gilbert's son, was carried off to +the Genesee. The other members of the party were +held in captivity in various places; but I may only stay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +now to note what befel the little Rebecca and her +sister-in-law, Elizabeth Peart.</p> + +<p>As already stated, Rebecca had been adopted by +Rowland Montour's wife. In the general allotment of +prisoners, her cousin, Benjamin Gilbert, the lad of +eleven, also fell to this daughter of Sayenqueraghta. +She took the children to a cabin where her father's +family, eleven in number, were assembled. After the +usual grand lamentation for the dead, whose places +were supposed now to be filled by the white prisoners, +this royal household departed by easy stages for their +summer's corn-planting. They tarried at the Landing, +while clothing was had from the fort. The little +Quaker girl was dressed after the Indian fashion, +"with short-clothes, leggins and a gold-laced hat"; +while Benjamin, "as a badge of his dignity, wore a +silver medal hanging from his neck." They moved +up to Fort Schlosser (just above the falls, near where +the present power-house stands), thence by canoe to +Fort Erie; then "four miles further, up Buffalo Creek, +where they pitched their tent for a settlement." Here +the women planted corn; but the little Rebecca, not +being strong, was allowed to look after the cooking. +The whole household, queen, princess and slave, had +to work. The men of course were exempt; but the +chief advantage of Sayenqueraghta's high rank was +that he could procure more provisions from the King's +stores at Fort Niagara than could the humbler members +of the tribe. The boy Ben had an easy time of +it. He roamed at will with the Indian boys over the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +territory that is now Buffalo; fished in the lake, +hunted or idled without constraint, and it is recorded +that he was so pleased with the Indian mode of life, +that but for his sister's constant admonition he would +have dropped all thought of return to civilization, and +cheerfully have become as good an Indian as the best of +them. At eleven years of age savagery takes easy hold.</p> + +<p>These children lived with Montour's Indian relatives +for over two years; sharing in the feasts when +there was plenty, going pinched with hunger on the +frequent occasions when improvidence had exhausted +the supply. There were numerous expeditions, afoot +and by canoe, to Fort Niagara. On one occasion +Rebecca, with her Indian family, were entertained by +British officers at Fort Erie, when Old Smoke drank so +much wine that when he came to paddle his canoe +homeward, across the river, he narrowly escaped an +upset on the rocky reef, just outside the entrance to +Buffalo Creek. On every visit to Fort Niagara Rebecca +would look for release; but although the officers +were kind to her, they did not choose to interfere with +so powerful a family as Montour's. It was shortly +after one of these disappointments that she heard of +her father's death. For some months she was sick; +then came news of the death of her Indian father, +Rowland Montour, who succumbed to wounds received +in the attack already noted. There was great mourning +in the lodge on Buffalo Creek, and Rebecca had to +make a feint of sorrow, weeping aloud with the rest.</p> + +<p>In the winter of '81-'82 a scheme was devised by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +friends at the fort for abducting her from the Indians, +but it was not undertaken. In the spring of '82 peremptory +orders came from Gen. Haldimand that all the +remaining members of the Gilbert family who were still +in captivity should be taken from the Indians; but after +a council fire had been lighted, Old Smoke, Montour's +widow, and the rest of the family, Rebecca and Ben +included, moved six miles up the lake shore—apparently +to Smoke's Creek—where they stayed several +weeks making maple sugar. Then, a great pigeon +roost being reported, men and boys went off to it, +some fifty miles, and the delighted young Ben went +too. Of all the Gilbert captives he alone seems to +have had experiences too full of wholesome adventure +and easy living to warrant the expenditure of the least +bit of sympathy upon him. But sooner or later the +wily Indians had to heed Sir Frederick's command, +and on the 1st of June, 1782, after upwards of two +years of captivity, Rebecca and her cousin were released +at Fort Niagara, and two days later, with others, +embarked for Montreal.</p> + +<p>Far more cheerless were the experiences of Elizabeth +Peart. She was parted from her husband, adopted +by a Seneca family, and was also brought to raise corn +on Buffalo Creek. Early in her servitude among the +Indians her babe was taken from her and carried across +to Canada. She was but twenty years old herself; the +family that had taken her came by canoe to Buffalo +Creek, where they settled for the corn-planting. This +was in the spring of 1780. All manner of drudgery<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +and burdens were put upon her. Her work was to +cultivate the corn. Falling sick, the Indians built a +hut for her by the side of the cornfield, and then +utterly neglected her. Here she remained through the +summer, regaining strength enough to care for and +gather the corn; when this was done, her Indian +father permitted her to come and live again in the +family lodge. At one time a drunken Indian attacked +her, knocked her down, and dragged her about, beating +her. At another, all provision failing, she tramped +with others four days through the snow to Fort Niagara. +Here Capt. Powell's wife—who had been a +prisoner herself—interceded in Elizabeth's behalf, +but to no avail. She was however given an opportunity +to see her babe, which was being cared for by +an Indian family on the Canadian side of the river, opposite +Fort Niagara. This privilege was gained for +the poor mother by bribing her Indian father with a +bottle of rum. So far as I am aware, this was the best +use to which a bottle of rum was put during the Revolutionary +War. But back to Buffalo Creek the unhappy +mother had to come. Her release was finally obtained +by artifice. Being allowed to visit Fort Niagara, +where she had some needlework to do for the +white people, she feigned sickness, and by one excuse +and another the Indians were put off until she could be +shipped away to Montreal.</p> + +<p>Of the Gilbert family and those taken with them by +Montour, only the old man died in captivity. The +adventures of each one would make a long story, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +may not be entered upon here. By the close of '82 +they were all released from the Indians, and after a +detention at Montreal, reached their friends in Pennsylvania +and set about the reëstablishment of homes.</p> + +<p>Beyond question, Elizabeth Peart and Rebecca Gilbert +were the first white women ever on the site of the +present city of Buffalo. They were brave, patient, +patriotic girls; no truer Daughters of the American +Revolution are known to history. It would seem +fitting that their memory should be preserved and their +story known—much fuller than I have here sketched +it—by the patriotic Daughters of the Revolution of +our own day, who give heed to American beginnings +in this region.</p> + +<p>I have dwelt at length on the Gilbert captivity, not +more because of its own importance than to illustrate +the responsibilities which constantly rested on the commandant +at Niagara, at this period. We now turn to +other phases of the service which engaged the attention +and taxed the endurance of Col. Bolton.</p> + +<p>From the time of the conquest of Canada in 1760 +down to the opening of the Revolution, there had been +a slow but steady growth of shipping on the lakes, +especially on Lake Ontario. On this lake, as early as +1767, there were four brigs of from forty to seventy +tons, and sixteen armed deck-cutters. Besides the +"King's ships" there were still much travel and traffic +by means of canoes and batteaux. One of the first +effects of the war with the American colonies was to +beget active ship-building operations by the British;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +for Lake Ontario, at Oswegatchie, Oswego and Niagara; +and for Lake Erie, at Navy Island, Detroit and +Pine River. An official return made in July, 1778, +the summer after Col. Bolton assumed command at +Niagara, enumerates twelve sailing craft built for +Lake Ontario since the British gained control of that +lake in 1759, and sixteen for Lake Erie; seven of the +Lake Ontario boats had been cast away, two were laid +up and decayed; so that at this time—midsummer of +'78—there were still in service only the snow Haldimand, +eighteen guns, built at Oswegatchie in 1771; +the snow Seneca, eighteen guns, built in 1777; and the +sloop Caldwell, two guns, built in 1774. A memorandum +records that Capt. Andrews, in the spring of +1778, sought permission to build another vessel at +Niagara, to take the place of the Haldimand, which, he +was informed, could not last more than another year. +The vessel built, in accordance with this recommendation, +was a schooner; her construction was entrusted to +Capt. Shank, at Niagara, across the river from the fort. +We may be sure that Col. Bolton visited the yard from +time to time to note the progress of the work. There +was discussion over her lines. "Capt. Shank was told +that he was making her too flat-bottomed, and that she +would upset." The builder laughed at his critics and +stuck to his model. She was launched, named the +Ontario, and was hastened forward to completion, for the +King's service had urgent need of her.</p> + +<p>Col. Bolton had long been in bad health, wearied +with the cares and perplexities of his position and eager<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +to get away from Fort Niagara. One source of constant +annoyance to his military mind was the traders' +supplies, which turned the fort into a warehouse and +laid distasteful duties upon its commandant. His letters +contain many allusions to the "incredible plague and +trouble caused by merchants' goods frequently sent +without a single person to care for them." "Last +year," so he wrote in May, '78, "every place in this +fort was lumbered with them, and vessels were obliged +to navigate the lakes until Nov. 30th." The vessels +were primarily for the King's service, but when unemployed +were allowed to be used in transporting +merchants' goods, under certain regulations. The +next statement in the same letter gives some idea of the +magnitude of the transactions involved in the various +departments in this region at the period: "I have +drawn a bill of £14,760-9-5"—nearly $74,000—"on +acct. of sundries furnished Indians by Maj. +Butler, also another on acct. of Naval Dept. at Detroit +for £4,070-18-9. Between us I am heartily sick of +bills and accounts and if the other posts are as expensive +to Government as this has been I think Old +England had done much better in letting the savages +take possession of them than to have put herself to half +the enormous sum she has been at in keeping them. +Neither does the climate agree with my constitution, +which has already suffered by being employed many +years in the West Indies and Florida, for I have been +extremely ill the two winters I have spent here with +rheumatism and a disorder in my breast."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>One source of annoyance to Bolton was a detachment +of Hessians which was sent to augment the garrison at +Fort Niagara. Col. Bolton did not find them to his +liking, nor was life at a backwoods post at all congenial +to these mercenaries, fighting England's battles to pay +their monarch's debts. They refused to work on the +fortifications at Niagara; whereupon, in November, +1779, Col. Bolton packed them off down to Carleton +Island. Alexander Fraser, in charge of that post, +wrote to Gen. Haldimand that he had ordered the +"jagers" to be replaced by a company of the 34th. +"Capt. Count Wittgenstein," he added, "fears bad +consequences should the Jagers be ordered to return." +Nowhere in America does the British employment of +Hessian troops appear to have been less satisfactory +than on this frontier. At Carleton Island, as at Niagara, +they refused to work, many of them were accused +of selling their necessaries for rum, and the Count de +Wittgenstein himself was reprimanded.</p> + +<p>There were difficulties, too, with the lake service. +Desertion and discontent followed an attempt to shorten +the seamen's rations. In the summer of '78, the +sailors on board the snow Seneca, at Niagara, asked to +be discharged, alleging that their time had expired the +preceding November, and the yet more remarkable +reason that they objected to the service because they +had been brought up on shore and life on the rolling +deep of Lake Ontario afforded "no opportunity of +exercising our Religion, neither does confinement +agree with our healths." Like many lake sailors at this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +period they were probably French Canadian Catholics, +with loyalty none too strong to the British cause.</p> + +<p>Bolton stuck to his post throughout that season, the +year of alarm that followed, and the succeeding period +of distress. The most frequent entries in his letters +record the arrival of war parties, and his anxiety over +the enormous expense incurred for the Indians by Maj. +Butler. "Scalps and prisoners are coming in every +day, which is all the news this place affords," he writes +in June, '78; and again, the same month: "Ninety +savages are just arrived with thirteen scalps and two +prisoners, and forty more with two scalps are expected. +All of these gentry, I am informed, must be clothed."<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> +While there does not seem ever to have been an open +break between Bolton and Butler, yet the former +looked with dismay, if not disapproval, upon the endless +expenditure incurred for the Indians. In August, +1778, he wrote: "Maj. Butler, chief of the Indian +Department, gives orders to the merchants to supply +the savages with everything to answer their demands, +of which undoubtedly he is the best judge and only +person who can satisfy them or keep them in temper. +He also signs a certificate that the goods and cash +issued and paid by his order were indispensably necessary +for the government of His Majesty's service. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +commanding officer of this post is thus obliged to draw +bills for the amount of all these accounts, of which it is +impossible he can be a judge or know anything about.... +I only mention these things to show Yr +Excellency the disagreeable part that falls to my lot as +commanding officer; besides this is such a complicated +command that even an officer of much superior abilities +than I am master of, would find himself sometimes not +a little embarrassed at this Post."</p> + +<p>Bolton was seriously ill during the winter of '79-'80, +as indeed were many of his garrison. In April, 1780, he +reports his wretched health to Gen. Haldimand. All +through the succeeding summer he stuck to his post; +but on September 13th, worn out and discouraged, he +asked to be allowed to retire from the command of the +upper posts and lakes. September 30th he again wrote, +begging for leave of absence. Some weeks later the +desired permission was sent, and Bolton determined to +stay no longer. Late in October the new Ontario, +which Capt. Shank had built across the river from the +fort, was finished and rigged; she carried sixteen guns, +and was declared ready for service. She was ordered +to convey a company of the 34th down to Carleton +Island. It was a notable departure. The season was +so late, no other opportunity for crossing Lake Ontario +might be afforded until spring. Lieut. Royce, with +thirty men of the 34th, embarked, under orders; so +did Lieut. Colleton of the Royal Artillery. Capt. Andrews, +superintendent of naval construction, at whose +solicitations the Ontario had been built, being at Fort<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +Niagara at the time, also took passage. There was the +full complement of officers and crew. Several passengers—licensed +Indian traders and fur merchants, +probably—crowded aboard; and among those who +sailed away from Fort Niagara that last October day, +was Col. Bolton. It was the Ontario's first voyage; +and we may be sure that there was no lack of speculation +and wise opinion in the throng of spectators who +watched her round the bar at the mouth of the river +and take her course down the lake. The old criticism +about her flat bottom and lack of draught was sure to +be recalled. But the Ontario, with her notable passenger +list, had sailed, and the only port she ever +reached was the bottom of the lake. It is supposed +she foundered, some forty miles east of Niagara, near +a place called Golden Hill. On the beach there, some +days after, a few articles were found, supposed to have +come ashore; but no other sign, no word of the Ontario +or of any of the throng that sailed in her has been had +from that day to this. In due time news of the loss +reached Quebec. Sincere but short were the expressions +of sorrow in the correspondence that followed. +"The loss of so many good officers and men," wrote +Haldimand, "particularly at this period, and the disappointment +of forwarding provisions for the great consumption +at the upper posts, will be severely felt."<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +was the fortune of war, and already the thought turned +to those who had depended upon a return cargo of +provisions by the Ontario. And so passes Mason +Bolton out of the history of Fort Niagara.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<h1>What Befel David Ogden.</h1> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> +<h2>WHAT BEFEL DAVID OGDEN.</h2> + + +<p>It was my privilege, in the summer of 1896, to +share in the exercises which marked the Centennial +of the delivery of Fort Niagara by Great Britain +to the United States. As I stood in that old stronghold +on the bank above the blue lake, strolled across +the ancient parade ground, or passed from one historic +building to another, I found myself constantly forgetting +the actual day and hour, and slipping back a century +or two. There was a great crowd at Fort Niagara +on this August day; thousands of people—citizens, +officials, soldiers and pleasure-seekers; but +with them came and went, to my retrospective vision, +many more thousands yet: missionary priests, French +adventurers, traders, soldiers of the scarlet, and +of the buff and blue. I saw Butler's Rangers +in their green suits; and I saw a horde of savages, +now begging for rations from the King's stores, now +coming in from their forays, famished but exultant, +displaying the scalps they had taken, or leading their +ragged and woebegone captives. It was upon these +captives, whose romantic misfortunes make a long +and dramatic chapter in the history of Fort Niagara, +that my regard was prone to center. Their stories +have nowhere been told, so far as I am aware, as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +part of the history of the place; many of them never +can be told; but of others some details may be +recorded.</p> + +<p>Throughout the whole period of the Revolutionary +War, Fort Niagara was a garrisoned British post, of +varying strength. It was the supply depot for all arms +and provisions which were destined for the upper posts +of Detroit and Michillimackinac; it was the rendezvous +of the Senecas, who worked the Government for +all the blankets and guns, trinkets and provisions which +they could get; it was the headquarters of Col. Guy +Johnson, Indian Superintendent; and it was the resting-place +and base of operations of They-en-dan-e-gey-ah—in +English, Joseph Brant; of Butler and his +rangers, and of numerous other less famous but more +cruel Indians, British and Tory leaders. No American +troops reached Fort Niagara to attack it. Only once +was it even threatened. Yet throughout the whole +period of the war parties sallied forth from Fort Niagara +to plunder, capture or kill the rebel settlers wherever +they could be reached.</p> + +<p>Sixty years ago Judge Samuel De Veaux wrote of +this phase of the history of Fort Niagara:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This old fort is as much noted for enormity and crime, as for +any good ever derived from it by the nation in occupation.... +During the American Revolution it was the headquarters of all +that was barbarous, unrelenting and cruel. There, were congregated +the leaders and chiefs of those bands of murderers and miscreants, +that carried death and destruction into the remote American +settlements. There, civilized Europe revelled with savage +America; and ladies of education and refinement mingled in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +society of those whose only distinction was to wield the bloody +tomahawk and scalping-knife. There, the squaws of the forest +were raised to eminence, and the most unholy unions between +them and officers of the highest rank, smiled upon and countenanced. +There, in their strong hold, like a nest of vultures, +securely, for seven years, they sallied forth and preyed upon the +distant settlements of the Mohawks and Susquehannahs. It was +the depot of their plunder; there they planned their forays, and +there they returned to feast, until the hour of action came again.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p></div> + +<p>This striking passage, which the worthy author did +not substantiate by a single fact, may stand as the present +text. I have undertaken to trace some of the +flights of the birds of prey from this nest, and to bring +together the details relating to the captives who were +brought hither. From many sources I have traced out +the narratives of thirty-two persons who were brought +to Fort Niagara captive by the Indians, during the +years 1778 to 1783. Among them is my boy hero +Davy Ogden, whose adventures I undertake to tell +with some minuteness. Just how many American +prisoners were brought into Fort Niagara during this +period I am unable to say, though it is possible that +from the official correspondence of the time figures +could be had on which a very close estimate could +be based. My examination of the subject warrants +the assertion that several hundred were brought in by +the war parties under Indian, British and Tory leaders. +In this correspondence, very little of which has ever been +published, one may find such entries as the following:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<p>Guy Johnson wrote from Fort Niagara, June 30, 1781:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>In my last letter of the 24th inst. I had just time to enclose a +copy of Lieut. Nelles's letter with an account of his success, +since which he arrived at this place with more particular information +by which I find that he killed thirteen and took seven (the +Indians not having reckoned two of the persons whom they left +unscalped)....</p></div> + +<p>Again:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I have the honor to transmit to Your Excellency a general +letter containing the state of the garrison and of my Department +to the 1st inst., and a return, at the foot, of the war parties that +have been on service this year, ... by which it will appear +that they have killed and taken during the season already 150 +persons, including those last brought in....</p></div> + +<p>Again he reports, August 30, 1781:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The party with Capt. Caldwell and some of the Indians with +Capt. Lottridge are returning, having destroyed several settlements +in Ulster County, and about 100 of the Indians are gone +against other parts of the frontiers, and I have some large parties +under good leaders still on service as well as scouts towards Fort +Pitt....</p></div> + +<p>Not only are there many returns of this sort, but +also tabulated statements, giving the number of prisoners +sent down from Fort Niagara to Montreal on given +dates, with their names, ages, names of their captors, +and the places where they were taken. There were +many shipments during the summer of '83, and the +latest return of this sort which I have found in the +archives is dated August 1st of that year, when eleven +prisoners were sent from the fort to Montreal. It was +probably not far from this time that the last American<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +prisoner of the Revolution was released from Fort +Niagara. But let the reader beware of forming hasty +conclusions as to the cruelty or brutality of the British +at Fort Niagara. In the first place, remember that +harshness or kindness in the treatment of the helpless +depends in good degree—and always has depended—upon +the temperament and mood of the individual +custodian. There were those in command at Fort +Niagara who appear to have been capable of almost +any iniquity. Others gave frequent and conspicuous +proofs of their humanity. Remember, secondly, that +the prisoners primarily belonged to the Indians who +captured them. The Indian custom of adoption—the +taking into the family circle of a prisoner in place +of a son or husband who had been killed by the enemy—was +an Iroquois custom, dating back much further +than their acquaintance with the English. Many of +the Americans who were detained in this fashion by +their Indian captors, probably never were given over +to the British. Some, as we know, like Mary Jemison, +the White Woman of the Genesee, adopted the +Indian mode of life and refused to leave it. Others +died in captivity, some escaped. Horatio Jones and +Jasper Parrish were first prisoners, then utilized as +interpreters, but remained among the Indians.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> And<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +in many cases, especially of women and children, we +know that they were got away from the Indians by the +British officers at Fort Niagara, only after considerable +trouble and expense. In these cases the British were +the real benefactors of the Americans, and the kindness +in the act cannot always be put aside on the mere +ground of military exchange, prisoner for prisoner. +Gen. Haldimand is quoted to the effect that he "does +not intend to enter into an exchange of prisoners, but +he will not add to the distresses attending the present +war, by detaining helpless women and children from +their families."<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> + +<p>I have spoken of Mrs. Campbell, who was held some +months at Kanadasaga. The letter just cited further +illustrates the point I would make:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A former application had been made in behalf of Col. Campbell +to procure the exchange of his family for that of Col. Butler, and +the officer commanding the upper posts collected Mr. Campbell's +and the family of a Mr. Moore, and procured their release from +the Indians upon the above mentioned condition with infinite trouble +and a very heavy expense. They are now at Fort Niagara where +the best care that circumstances will admit of, is taken of them, +and I am to acquaint you that Mrs. Campbell & any other +women or children that shall be specified shall be safely conducted +to Fort Schuyler, or to any other place that shall be +thought most convenient, provided Mrs. Butler & her family +consisting of a like number shall in the same manner have safe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +conduct to my advance post upon Lake Champlain in order that +she may cross the lake before the ice breaks up.</p></div> + +<p>The official correspondence carried on during the +years 1779 to '83, between Gen. Haldimand and the +commanding officers at Fort Niagara shows in more +than one instance that American prisoners were a +burden and a trouble at that post. Sometimes, as in +the case of Mrs. Campbell, who was finally exchanged +for Mrs. Butler and her children, they were detained +as hostages. More often, they were received from the +Indians in exchange for presents, the British being +obliged to humor the Indians and thus retain their +invaluable services. Thus, under date of Oct. 2, +1779, we find Col. Bolton writing from Fort Niagara to +Gen. Haldimand: "I should be glad to know what +to do with the prisoners sent here by Capt. Lernault. +Some of them I forwarded to Carleton Island, and +Maj. Nairne has applied for leave to send them to +Montreal. I have also many here belonging to the +Indians, who have not as yet agreed to deliver them +up."<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> +<p>I could multiply at great length these citations from +the official correspondence, but enough has been given +to show that the wholesale condemnation of the British, +into whose hands American prisoners fell, is not warranted +by the facts. But there is no plainer fact in it +all than that the British organized and aided the Indian +raids, and were, therefore, joint culprits in general.</p> + +<p>And this brings us to the subject of scalps. For +many years Fort Niagara was called a scalp-market.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +The statement is frequent in early writers that the British +officers offered about eight dollars for every American's +scalp, and that it was this offer, more than anything +else, which fired the Indians to their most horrible +deeds. Many scalps were brought into Fort Niagara, +but I have failed, as yet, to find any report, or figure, +or allusion, in the British archives pointing to the payment +of anything whatever. Further search may discover +something to settle this not unimportant matter;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +for we may readily believe that if such payments were +made the matter would be passed over as unobtrusively +as possible, especially in the reports to the Ministry. +The facts appear to be that warriors who brought scalps +into Fort Niagara gave them to the Superintendent of +Indian Affairs, or his deputy, and then received presents +from him. Probably these presents were proportioned +to the success on the warpath.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> +<p>These facts and reflections are offered to assist the +reader's ready understanding and imagination in following +in detail the adventures of one out of the many +prisoners whose paths we have glanced at; for of all +these unfortunate patriots who were thus brought to +the "vultures' nest" none has laid hold of my interest +and my imagination more strongly than has David +Ogden. He was born in a troublous time, and the +hazards of border life were his sole heritage, save alone +a sturdy intrepidity of character which chiefly commends +him to me as the typical hero of all the heroic +souls, men, women, and children, who came through +great bereavements and hardships, into old Fort Niagara +as prisoners of war. Davy was born at Fishkill, +Dutchess Co., New York, in 1764. His parents made +one remove after another, in the restless American +fashion, for some years taking such chances of betterment +as new settlements afforded; first at Waterford, +Saratoga Co.; then in the wilderness on the head-waters +of the Susquehanna near the present village of Huntsville; +then up the river to the settlement known in those +days as Newtown Martin, now Middlefield; and later, +for safety, to Cherry Valley. Here David's mother and +her four boys were at the time of the famous massacre +of November, 1778. When the alarm was given Mrs. +Ogden snatched a blanket, and with her little ones +began a flight through the woods towards the Mohawk. +With them also fled Col. Campbell, of the patriot +militia. Coming to a deserted cabin whose owner had +fled, they did not scruple to help themselves to a loaf<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +of bread, which Col. Campbell cut up with his sword. +After another flight of some hours through a storm of +mingled snow and rain, they came to the house of one +Lyons, a Tory, who was absent, presumably because +busied in the black work at Cherry Valley. Mrs. +Lyons, who seems to have shared her husband's sentiments, +refused the refugees anything to eat, but finally +let the mother and children spend the night on the +floor. Col. Campbell left the Ogdens here and pushed +on alone towards Canajoharie; while Mrs. Odgen and +her hungry little ones went on by themselves through +the snow. That day they came to a more hospitable +house, where the keen suffering of that adventure +ended; and some days later, on the Mohawk, the father +rejoined the family, he also having escaped the massacre +at Cherry Valley.</p> + +<p>This incident may be reckoned the mere prelude of +our Davy's adventures; for the next spring, having +reached the mature age of fourteen, he volunteered in +the service of his country, entered upon the regular +life of a soldier, and began to have adventures on his +own account. The year that followed was spent in +arduous but not particularly romantic service. He +was marched from one point to another on the Mohawk +and the Hudson; saw André hanged at Tappan, and +finally was sent to the frontier again, where at Fort +Stanwix,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> in the spring of 1781, what we may regard as +the real adventures of Davy Ogden began.</p> + +<p>A party of eleven wood-choppers were at work in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +the heavy timber about two miles from the fort, and +every day an armed guard was sent out from the garrison +to protect them. On March 2d, Corporal Samuel +Betts and six soldiers, Davy among them, were detailed +on this service. I conceive of my hero at this +time as a sturdy, well-seasoned lad, to whom woodcraft +and pioneer soldiering had become second nature. +I would like to see him among city boys of his own +age to-day. Most things that they know, and think +of, would be quite out of his range. But there is a +common ground on which all healthy, high-minded +boys, of whatever time or station in life, stand on a +level. I do not know that he had ever been to school, +or that he could read, though I think his mother must +have looked to that. But I do know that he was well +educated. He was innocent of the bicycle, but I'll +warrant he could skate. I know he could swim like +an otter—as I shall presently record—and when it +came to running, he would have been a champion of +the cinder-path, to-day. He knew the ways of poverty +and of self-denial; knew the signs of the forest, of +wild animal and Indian; and best of all, I am sure he +knew just why he was carrying a heavy flint-lock in +the ragged, hungry ranks of the American "rebels." It +must be admitted, I linger somewhat over my hero; +but I like the lad, and would have the reader come +into sympathy with him. I can see him now as he +followed the corporal out of the fort that March morning. +He wore the three-cornered cocked-up hat of +the prescribed uniform, and his powder-horn was slung<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +at his side. The whole guard very likely wore snowshoes, +for the snow lay three feet deep in the woods, +and a thaw had weakened the crust.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon, soldiers and wood-choppers +were startled by the yells of Indians and Tories, who +had gained a hill between them and the fort. Brant +had achieved another of his surprises, and there was +no escape from his party, which seemed to fill the +woods. His evident intent was to make captives and +not to kill, though his men had orders to shoot or +tomahawk any who fired in self-defense. Two of +Davy's companions were wounded by the enemy. +One of them, Timothy Runnels, was shot in the +mouth, "the ball coming through his cheek; and yet +not a tooth was disturbed, a pretty good evidence, in +the opinion of his comrades, that his mouth was wide +open when the ball went in." It fared more seriously +with the other wounded soldier. This man, whose +name was Morfat, had his thigh broken by a bullet. +The Indians rushed upon him as he fell at Davy's side, +tomahawked him, scalped him, stripped him and left +him naked upon the snow, thus visiting a special vengeance +upon one who was said to be a deserter from +the British. It is further chronicled that Morfat did +not immediately die, but lived until he was found, +hours after, by a party from the fort, finally expiring as +his comrades bore him through the gate of Fort Stanwix.</p> + +<p>Davy Ogden had seen this dreadful thing, but with +no sign of fear or sickness. He had already mastered +that scorn of suffering and death which always com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>mended +the brave to their Indian captors. He was +ranged up with the other prisoners, and Brant asked of +each his name. When Davy gave his, the great chief +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"What, a son of Ogden the beaver-hunter, that old +scouter? Ugh! I wish it were he instead of you! +But we will take care of his boy or he may become a +scouter too!"</p> + +<p>Thus began David's captivity, as the prisoner, and +perhaps receiving some of the special regard, of Brant +himself. There could have been little doubt in Davy's +mind, from the moment of his capture, that he was to +be carried to Fort Niagara; yet the first move of the +party was characteristic of Indian strategy; for instead +of taking the trail westward, they all marched off to +the eastward, coming upon the Mohawk some miles below +Fort Stanwix. They forded the river twice, the +icy water coming above their waists. On emerging +upon the road between Fort Stanwix and Fort Herkimer, +Brant halted his sixteen prisoners and caused the +buckles to be cut from their shoes. These he placed +in a row in the road, where the first passing American +would be sure to see them. There was something of +a taunt in the act, and a good deal of humor; and we +may be sure that Joseph Brant, who was educated +enough, and of great nature enough, to enjoy a joke, +had many a laugh on his way back to Niagara as he +thought of those thirty-two buckles in a row.</p> + +<p>The prisoners tied up their shoes with deerskin +strings, and trudged along through the night until the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +gleam of fires ahead and a chorus of yells turned their +thoughts towards the stake and an ignominious martyrdom. +But their fate was easier to meet. In a volley +of sixteen distinct yells for the prisoners and one +for the scalp, the party—said to number 100 Indians +and fifty Tories—entered the first camp, where +squaws were boiling huge kettles of samp—pounded +corn—eaten without salt. All fared equally well, and +all slept on the ground in the snow, Davy and his fellows +being guarded by British soldiers.</p> + +<p>The next day's march brought them to Oneida Castle, +often the headquarters of Brant in his expeditions. +Here the Indians dug up from the snow a store of unhusked +corn, and shelled and pounded a quantity for +their long march. Here, too, Davy's three-cornered +Revolutionary hat was taken from him, and in its place +was given him a raccoon skin. All of the captives except +the corporal were similarly treated and the Indians +showed them how to tie the head and tail together. +On some the legs stuck up and on others the +legs hung down. I do not know how Davy wore his—with +a touch of taste and an air of gaiety, no +doubt; and we may be sure it made a better head-covering +for a march of 250 miles at that season than would +the stiff hat he had lost. Corporal Betts alone was +permitted to keep his hat, as insignia of rank, and it is +to be hoped he got some comfort out of it.</p> + +<p>It would take too long to give all the dismal details +of Davy's dreary tramp across the State. Other +captivities which I have spoken of had incidents of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +more dire misery and greater horror than befel the +party to which Ogden belonged; and this is one +reason why I have chosen to dwell upon his adventures, +because my aim is, by a personal narrative, to illustrate +the average experience of the time.</p> + +<p>There were hundreds of American prisoners brought +to Fort Niagara during the period we are studying, but +it would be far from just to their captors, and would +throw our historical perspective out of focus, to take +the extreme cases as types for the whole.</p> + +<p>Yet, put it mildly as we can, the experience persists +in being serious. At Oneida Castle Brant, evidently +fearing pursuit, roused his party in the middle +of the night, and a forced march was begun through +the heavy timber and up and down the long hills to the +westward. When the moon went down they halted, +but at the first streak of daylight they pushed on, not +waiting even to boil their samp. An occasional handful +of parched corn, pounded fine and taken with a +swallow of water, was all the food any of the party had +that day.</p> + +<p>The next encampment was on the Onondaga River, +south of the lake; and here occurred an incident as +characteristic of Indian character as was the row of +shoe-buckles in the road. Some Indians found a +small cannon, which had probably been abandoned by +one of the detachments sent out by Sullivan on his +retreat from the Genesee in '79. Brant, who had +plenty of powder, ordered his American prisoners to +load and fire this gun a number of times, the Indians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +meanwhile yelling in delight and the Tories and British +enjoying the chagrin of the helpless Americans. Then +the march was resumed; over the watershed to Cayuga +Lake, which they crossed on the ice near the outlet, a +long train, each man far from his fellow, for the ice +was rotten and full of air-holes; then along the old +trail to Seneca River, which they forded; thence the +route was west by north, one camp being somewhere +between the present villages of Waterloo and Lyons. +Brant on this expedition appears to have kept to the +north of Kanadasaga.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> A day later they came to the +outlet of Canandaigua Lake, where the Indians, finding +a human head which they said was the head of a +Yankee, had an improvised game of football with it, +with taunts and threats for the edification of their prisoners. +The next day they crossed the Genesee River, +at or near the old Genesee Castle. And still, as +throughout all this march, unsalted, often uncooked, +samp was their only food.</p> + +<p>On the march Davy and each of his fellows had worn +about their necks a rope of some fourteen or sixteen +feet in length. In the daytime these ropes were wound +about their necks and tied. At night they were +unwound, each prisoner placed between two captors, and +one end of the rope was fastened to each of the double +guard. Under the circumstances it is no reflection upon +our hero's courage that he had not made his escape.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>West of the Genesee, and beyond the country which +had been ravaged by Sullivan, signs of Indian occupancy +multiplied; but as yet there was no other food than +corn to be had for their ill-conditioned bodies. As +they filed along the trail, through the snow and mud +of March, they met another large party just setting out +from Niagara on a foray for prisoners and scalps. There +were noisy greetings and many exultant yells; and as +the outbound savages passed the prisoners, they snatched +from each one's head the raccoon-skin cap; so that for +the rest of the journey Davy and his companions met +the weather bare-headed—all save Corporal Betts, to +whom again was still spared the old three-cornered hat. +The incident bespeaks either the lack of control or the +negligent good nature of Brant, for fifteen raccoon-skins +at Fort Niagara would surely have been worth at +least fifteen quarts of rum. Corporal Betts, however, +must have got little comfort out of his hat; for seeing +him look so soldierly in it, the whim seized upon +Brant to compel the unlucky corporal to review his +woebegone troops.</p> + +<p>"Drill your men," said the fun-loving chief, "and +let us see if these Yankees can go through the tactics of +Baron Steuben."</p> + +<p>And so poor Betts, but with a broken spirit, mustered +his forlorn guard, dressed them in a straight line, +and put them through the manual according to Steuben. +I doubt if the history of Western New York can show +a stranger military function than this reluctant muster +of patriot prisoners under compulsion of a playful tiger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +of an Indian, jeered at meanwhile by British soldiers +from Fort Niagara. When these latter went too far in +their ridicule Brant stopped them. "The Yankees," +he said angrily, "do it a damned sight better than you +can."</p> + +<p>This affair took place, as nearly as I can make out, +somewhere between Batavia and Lockport; probably +not far from the old Indian village of Tonawanda.</p> + +<p>Being now in the valley of the Tonawanda, Brant +seems to have sent ahead a runner to announce his approach; +for the second or third day after crossing the +Genesee they were met by a party from the fort, bringing +pork and flour, whereupon there was a camp and a +feast; with the not strange result that many of them +had to return to the astringent parched corn as a +corrective.</p> + +<p>From this point on Davy and his friends were subjected +to a new experience; for, as they passed through +the Indian villages, the old women and children exercised +their accustomed privilege of beating and abusing +the prisoners. On one occasion, as Davy was +plodding along the path, a squaw ran up to him, and, +all unawares, hit him a terrific blow on the side of the +head, whereupon the boy came near getting into trouble +by making a vigorous effort to kick the lady. At +another time, as David marched near Brant, he saw a +young Indian raise a pole, intending to give the prisoner +a whack over the head. Davy dodged, and the +blow fell on Brant's back. The chief, though undoubtedly +hurt, paid no attention to the Indian lad,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +but advised Davy to run, and Davy, knowing perfectly +well that to run away meant torture and death, wisely +ran towards the fort, which was but a few miles +distant. A companion named Hawkins, who had +marched with him, ran by his side. And, as they ran, +they came upon still another village of the Senecas, +from which two young savages took after them. Believing +that their pursuers would tomahawk them, +the boys let out a link or two of their speed, and +coming to a creek where logs made a bridge, Hawkins +hid under the bridge, while Davy ran behind a great +buttonwood tree. The young Indians, however, had +seen them, and on coming up, one of them promptly +went under the bridge, and the other around the tree +for Davy. This Indian held out his hand in friendship, +and said: "Brother, stop." And the boys, +seeing that the Indians had no tomahawks and could +do them no harm, were reassured, and they all went on +together toward Fort Niagara.</p> + +<p>Soon they met a detail of soldiers from the fort, who +detained them until the rest of the party came up, +when Davy saw that some of his friends had been so +badly wounded by the assaults of these village Indians +that they were now being carried. As the party went +on together, the path was continually lined with Indians, +whose camps were on the open plains about the fort; +and the clubbing and beating of the prisoners became +incessant. This was all a regular part of a triumphal +return to Fort Niagara of a party of British and Indians +with American prisoners, and was the mild pre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>liminary +of that dread ordeal known as running the +gauntlet.</p> + +<p>When Davy, well to the front of the procession, had +been marched some distance farther through the wood, +he looked out upon a clearing, across which extended +a long line of fallen trees, which lay piled +with the butts inward, so that the sharpened points +of the forked branches all pointed outwards, making a +<i>chevaux-de-frise</i> upon which one might impale himself, +but which could scarcely be scaled. Beyond this barrier, +as Davy looked, he saw, first, the wagon road +which ran between this <i>chevaux-de-frise</i> and the palisades +or pickets of the fort beyond. Within the +palisades he could see the outlines of the fortification, +the upper part of the old castle which still stands +there, and other buildings, and over all the red flag of +Great Britain. But while he noted these things, his +chief regard must have fallen upon the great crowd of +Indians who were ranged along on either side of the +road between the outwork of fallen trees and the palisades—two +close ranks of painted savages in front, +and behind them on either side a dense mass of yelling, +gesticulating bucks, squaws, old men and children, +impatient for the passing of the prisoners. Beyond, +the British sentries, officers and other inmates +of the fort, awaited the sport, like spectators at a +play.</p> + +<p>Davy knew the gravity and the chances of the situation. +He knew the Indian custom, which does not +seem to have been at all interfered with by the officers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +in command at Niagara,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> which allowed the spectator +to assault or wound the prisoner who should run between +the ranks, in any way which his ingenuity could +suggest, except with hatchets and knives; these could +be used only on prisoners whose faces were painted +black, by which sign wretches doomed to death were +known; yet any prisoner, even the black-painted ones, +who lived through the gauntlet and gained the gate of +the fort, was safe from Indian judgment, and could rest +his case upon the mercies of the British.</p> + +<p>I do not know whether or not Davy's heart stood +still for a second, but I am bound to say there was not +a drop of craven blood in his veins. He was not +exactly in training, as we would say of a sprinter today—his +diet, the reader will remember, had been somewhat +deficient. But if he hesitated or trembled it was +not for long. We can see him as he stands between +the soldiers from the fort—bareheaded, ragged, +dirty; a blanket pinned about his shoulders and still +with the rope about his neck by which he was secured +at night. And now, as his guards look back to see the +others come up, Davy tightens the leather strap at his +waist, takes a deep breath, bends low, darts forward, +and is half way down the line before the waiting +Indians know he is coming.</p> + +<p>How he does run! And how the yells and execrations +follow! There is a flight of stones and clubs, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +not one touches the boy. One huge savage steps forward, +to throw the runner backward—he clutches only +the blanket, which is left in his hands, and Davy runs +freer than before. The twenty rods of this race for life +are passed, and as the boy dashes upon the bridge by +which the road into the fort crosses the outer ditch, he +is confronted by an evil-looking squaw, who aims a blow +with her fist square at his face. Davy knocks up her arm +with such force that she sprawls heavily to the ground, +striking her head on one of the great spikes that held +the planking. And straight on runs Davy, not down +the road along the wall to the place set for prisoners, +but through the inner gate, under the guard-house; and +so, panting and spent, out upon the old parade-ground.</p> + +<p>Thus came the boy-soldier of the Revolution, David +Ogden, to Fort Niagara, 118 years ago.</p> + +<p>The sentries hailed him with laughter and jeers, and +asked him what he was doing there. "Go back," +they said, "under the guard-house and down the road +outside the wall, to the bottom."</p> + +<p>This was where Guy Johnson's house stood, and +there the prisoners were to report. But when Davy +looked forth he concluded that discretion was the better +part of valor, for the angry Indians had closed upon +his fellows who followed, and were clubbing them, +knocking them down and kicking them; so that of the +whole party taken prisoners near Fort Stanwix, Davy +Ogden was the only one who reached Fort Niagara +without serious harm. Turning back upon the parade +ground he flatly refused to go out again, whereupon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +the officer of the guard was called, who questioned +him, took pity on him, and sheltered him in his own +quarters for three days.</p> + +<p>Now, if this were a mere story, we would expect, +right here, a happy turn in Davy's fortunes. As matter +of fact, the most dismal days in Davy's life were +just to begin. He had hoped that the worst would be +detention at the fort, and a speedy shipment down the +lake to Montreal, for exchange. But after some days +he was summoned to Guy Johnson's house, where were +many Indians, and here he was handed over to a squaw +to be her son, in place of one she had lost in the war. +David was powerless; and after what, many years later, +he described as a powwow had been held over him, he +was led away by the squaw and her husband. A British +soldier, named Hank Haff, added to his grief by +telling him that he was adopted by the Indians and +would have to live with them forever; and, as he was +led off across the plain, away from his friends and even +from communication with the British, who were at +least of his own blood, it was small consolation to +know that his adopted father's name was Skun-nun-do, +that the hideous old hag, his mother, was Gunna-go-let, +that there was a daughter in the wigwam named +Au-lee-zer-quot, or that his own name was henceforth +to be Chee-chee-le-coo, or "Chipping-bird"—a good +deal, I submit, for a soldier of the Revolution to bear, +even if he were only a boy.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> +<p>David lived with this fine family for over two years, +being virtually their slave, and always under circumstances +which made escape impossible. He dressed in +Indian fashion, and learned their language, their yells +and signal whoops. During the first months of his +adoption, their wigwam was about four miles from the +fort—presumably east or southeast of it; and one of +David's first duties was to go with Gunna-go-let out on +to the treeless plain overlooking Lake Ontario, where +the old squaw had found a prize in the shape of a horse +which had died of starvation. David helped her cut +up the carcass and "tote" it home—and he was glad +to eat of the soup which she made of it. They were +always hungry. Skun-nun-do being a warrior, the burden +of providing for the family fell upon Gunna-go-let. +Her principal recourse was to cut faggots in the +woods and carry them to the fort. Many a time did +she and Davy Ogden carry their loads of firewood +on their backs up to the fort, glad to receive in +exchange cast-off meat, stale bread or rum. So much +of this work did Davy do during the two years that he +was kept with these Indians that his back became sore, +then calloused.</p> + +<p>When he had lived with Gunna-go-let three months, +she packed up and moved her wigwam to the carrying-place, +now Lewiston. Here there was cleared land, +and some 200 huts or wigwams were pitched, while +the Indians planted, hoed and gathered a crop of corn. +Davy was kept hard at work in the field, or in carrying +brooms, baskets and other things to the fort for sale.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>When he had been at the carrying-place about a +year and a half, he saw a large party of captives +brought in from the settlements. Among them was +a young woman who had been at Fort Stanwix when +Ogden was on duty there. As she sat in the camp, +Davy being present, she began to observe him carefully. +Although our hero was dressed as an Indian—Indian +gaiters, a short frock belted at the waist, and +with his hair cut close to the scalp over the whole head +except a long tuft on the crown—yet this poor girl +saw his real condition and soon learned who he was. +There was no chance for confidences. What little they +said had to be spoken freely, without feeling, as if +casually between strangers indifferent to each other. +She told David that she was gathering cowslip greens in +a field, when an Indian rushed upon her and carried +her away. What she endured while being brought to +the Niagara I leave to the imagination. Davy saw +her carried away by her captors across the river into +Canada; and thus vanishes Hannah Armstrong, for I +find no mention of her except in this reminiscence of +her drawn from Ogden's own lips.</p> + +<p>About this time David was taken to the fort, old +Gunna-go-let having heard that the British would give +her a present for the lad. Davy trudged the nine miles +from their hut to the fort with a good heart, for to him +the news meant a chance of exchange. At Guy Johnson's +house he and his mother sat expectant on the +steps. Presently out came Capt. Powell, who had +married Jane Moore—who had herself been brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +to the fort a captive from Cherry Valley. This fine +couple, from whom the lad had some right to expect +kindness, paraded up and down the "stoop" or +verandah of the house for a while, the wife hanging on +her captain's arm and both ignoring the boy. At +length they paused, and Capt. Powell said:</p> + +<p>"You are one of the squaw boys? Do you want to +quit the Indians?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Davy, heart in mouth.</p> + +<p>"What for?" quizzed the captain.</p> + +<p>"To be exchanged—to get back home, to my own +country."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Powell, "if you really want to get +free from the Indians come up and enlist in Butler's +Rangers. Then we can ransom you from this old +squaw—will you do it?"</p> + +<p>"No, I won't!" blazed Davy, fiercely.</p> + +<p>Capt. Powell turned on his heel. "Go back with +the Indians again and be damned!" and with that he +vanished into the house; and we have no means of +knowing whether Jane, his wife, had by this time become +so "Tory" that she made no protest; but it is +pleasanter to think of her as remembering her own +captivity, and, still loyal at heart, as interceding for +the boy.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> But that was the end of it for this time, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +back Davy went, with an angry squaw, to continue his +ignoble servitude until the next spring. Then word +spread all through the region that the prisoners must be +brought into Fort Niagara, and this time Davy was not +disappointed, for with many others he was hurried on +board the schooner Seneca and carried to Oswego. +Obviously the news of the preparations for a peace had +reached Niagara. Although the Treaty of Paris was +not signed until September 3d of that year (1783), yet +the preliminary articles had been agreed upon in January. +The order from the British Ministry to cease +hostilities reached Sir Guy Carleton about the 1st of +April, and a week or so would suffice for its transmission +to Niagara. Captives who had been detained and claimed +by the Indians continued to be brought in during that +summer, but we hear no more of returning war parties +arriving with new prisoners. The War of the Revolution +was over, even at remote Niagara, although for +one pretext and another—and for some good reasons—the +British held on to Fort Niagara and kept up its +garrison for thirteen years more.</p> + +<p>With the sailing of the Seneca the connection of +Davy Ogden with Fort Niagara ended; but no one who +has followed his fortunes thus far can wish to drop him, +as it were, in the middle of Lake Ontario. That is +where Davy came near going, for a gale came up which +not only made him and the throng of others who were +fastened below decks desperately sick, but came near +wrecking the schooner. She was compelled to put in +at Buck's Island, and after some days reached Oswego,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +then strongly garrisoned. Here Davy stayed, still a +prisoner, but living with the British Indians, through +the winter. In the spring, with a companion named +Danforth, who stole a loaf of bread for their sustenance, +he made his escape. He ran through the woods, +twenty-four miles in four hours; swam the Oswego +River, and on reaching the far side, and fearing pursuit, +did not stop to dress, but ran on naked through +the woods until he and his companion hoped they had +distanced their pursuers. A party had been sent after +them from the fort, but on reaching the point where +the boys had plunged into the river, gave up the chase. +Ogden and Danforth pressed on, around Oneida Lake—having +an adventure with a bear by the way, and +another with rattlesnakes—and finally, following old +trails, reached Fort Herkimer, having finished their +loaf of bread and run seventy miles on the last day of +their flight. Here Davy was among friends. The officers +promptly clothed him, gave him passports, and in +a few days he found his parents at Warrensburg, in +Schoharie County.</p> + +<p>When the War of 1812 broke out, David took his gun +again. He fought at the Battle of Queenston, where +forty men in his own company were killed or wounded. +Two bullets passed through his clothes, but he was unharmed. +We can imagine the interest with which he +viewed the Lewiston plateau where he had lived with +Gunna-go-let more than thirty years before. After the +war he returned East, and in 1840 was living in the +town of Franklin, Delaware Co., being then seventy-six<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +years old. The story of his adventures was gathered +from his own lips, but I do not think it has ever been +told before as a part of the history of the Niagara +frontier.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<h1>A Fort Niagara Centennial.</h1> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> +<h2>A FORT NIAGARA CENTENNIAL.</h2> + +<p><i>With Especial Reference to the British Retention of that Post for +Thirteen Years after the Treaty of 1783.</i><a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a></p> + + +<p>The part assigned to me in these exercises is to +review the history of Fort Niagara; to summon +from the shades and rehabilitate the figures +whose ambitions or whose patriotism are web and woof +of the fabric which Time has woven here. It is a +long procession, led by the disciples of St. Francis and +Loyola—first the Cross, then the scalping-knife, the +sword and musket. These came with adventurers of +France, under sanction of Louis the Magnificent, who +first builded our Fort Niagara and with varying fortunes +kept here a feeble footing for four score years, until, +one July day, Great Britain's wave of continental conquest +passed up the Niagara; and here, as on all the +frontier from Duquesne to Quebec,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The lilies withered where the Lion trod."<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The fragile emblem of France vanished from these +shores, and the triple cross waved over Fort Niagara +until, 100 years ago to-day, it gave way to a fairer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +flag. This is the event we celebrate, this, with the +succeeding years, the period we review: a period embracing +three great wars between three great nations; +covering our Nation's birth, growth, assertion and +maintenance of independence. The story of Fort +Niagara is peculiarly the story of the fur trade and the +strife for commercial monopoly; and it is, too, in considerable +measure, the story of our neighbor, the magnificent +colony of Canada, herself worthy of full +sisterhood among the nations. It is a story replete +with incident of battle and siege, of Indian cruelty, +of patriot captivity, of white man's duplicity, of famine, +disease and death,—of all the varied forms of +misery and wretchedness of a frontier post, which we in +days of ease are wont to call picturesque and romantic. +It is a story without a dull page, and it is two and a +half centuries long.</p> + +<p>Obviously something must be here omitted, for your +committee have allotted me fifteen minutes in which +to tell it!</p> + +<p>Let us note, then, in briefest way, the essential data +of the spot where we stand.</p> + +<p>A French exploratory expedition headed by Robert +Cavelier, called La Salle, attempted the first fortification +here in 1679.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> There was a temporary Indian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +village on the west side of the river, but no settlement +here, neither were there trees on this point. +Here, under the direction of La Motte de Lussiere, +were built two timber redoubts, joined by a palisade. +This structure, called Fort Conty, burned the same +year, and the site of Fort Niagara was unfortified until +the summer of 1687, when the Marquis de Denonville, +Governor General of Canada, after his expedition +against the Senecas, made rendezvous on this point, +and (metaphorically) shaking his fist at his rival Dongan, +the Governor of the English Colony of New +York, built here a fort which was called Fort Denonville. +It was a timber stockade, of four bastions; was +built in three days, occupied for eleven months by a +garrison which dwindled from 100 men to a dozen, and +would no doubt entirely have succumbed to the scurvy +and the besieging Iroquois but for the timely arrival +of friendly Miamis. It was finally abandoned September +15, 1688, the palisades being torn down, but +the little huts which had sheltered the garrison left +standing. How long they endured is not recorded. +All traces of them had evidently vanished by 1721, +when in May of that year Charlevoix rounded yonder +point in his canoe and came up the Niagara. His +Journal gives no account of any structure here. Four +years more elapsed before the French ventured to take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +decided stand on this ground. In 1725 Governor De +Vaudreuil deputed the General De Longueil to erect a +fort here. The work was entrusted to the royal engineer +Chaussegros de Léry—the elder of the two +distinguished engineers bearing that name. He came +to this spot, got his stone from Lewiston Heights and +his timber from the forest west of the river, and built +the "castle." Some of the cut stone was apparently +brought from the vicinity of Fort Frontenac, now +Kingston, across the lake. The oldest part of this +familiar pile, and more or less of the superstructure, is +therefore 171 years old.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> There is, however, probably +but little suggestion of the original building in the +present construction, which has been several times +altered and enlarged. But from 1725 to the present +hour Fort Niagara has existed and, with one brief interim, +has been continuously and successively garrisoned +by the troops of France, England, and the United States.</p> + +<p>By 1727 De Léry had completed the fortification of +the "castle," and the French held the post until +1759, when it surrendered to the English under Sir +William Johnson. It was in its last defence by the +French that the famous Capt. Pouchot first established +the fortification to the eastward, with two bastions and +a curtain-wall, apparently on about the same lines as +those since maintained. The story of the siege, the +battle, and the surrender is an eventful one; it is also +one of the most familiar episodes in the history of the +place, and may not be dwelt upon here.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p>July 25, 1759, marks the end of the French period +in the history of Fort Niagara. The real significance +of that period was even less in its military than in its +commercial aspect. During the first century and more +of our story the possession of the Niagara was coveted +for the sake of the fur trade which it controlled. I +cannot better tell the story of that hundred years in +less than a hundred words, than to symbolize Fort +Niagara as a beaver skin, held by an Indian, a Frenchman, +an Englishman and a Dutchman, each of the last +three trying to pull it away from the others (the poor +Dutchman being early bowled over in the scuffle), and +each European equally eager to placate the Indian with +fine words, with prayers or with brandy, or to stick a +knife into his white brother's back.</p> + +<p>This vicinity also has peculiar precedence in the +religious records of our State. It was near here<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> that +Father Melithon Watteaux, the first Catholic priest to +minister to whites in what is now New York State, set +up his altar.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> It has been claimed, too, by eminent +authority, that on this bank of the Niagara, was +acquired by the Catholic Church its first title to +property in this State<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a>; and here at Fort Niagara, under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +the French <i>régime</i>, ministered Fathers Lamberville and +Milet, Crespel and others of shining memory. But +the capture of Fort Niagara by Sir William Johnson +overthrew the last altar raised by the French on the +east bank of the Niagara.</p> + +<p>The first period of British possession of this point +extends from 1759 to 1796. This includes the Revolutionary +period, with sixteen years before war was +begun, and thirteen years after peace was declared. +When yielded up by the French, most of the buildings +were of wood. Exceptions were the castle, the old +barracks and magazine, the two latter, probably, dating +from 1756, when the French engineer, Capt. Pouchot, +practically rebuilt the fort. The southwest blockhouse +may also be of French construction. A tablet on the +wall of yonder bake-house says it was erected in 1762. +There were constant repairs and alterations under the +English, and several periods of important construction. +They rebuilt the bastions and waged constant warfare +against the encroaching lake. In 1789 Capt. Gother +Mann, Royal Engineer, made report on the needs of +the place, and his recommendations were followed the +succeeding year. In his report for 1790 he enumerates +various works which have been accomplished on +the fortifications, and says: "The blockhouse [has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +been] moved to the gorge of the ravelin so as to form +a guard-house for the same, and to flank the line of +picketts.... A blockhouse has been built on +the lake side." This obviously refers to the solid old +structure still standing there.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a></p> + +<p>The real life of the place during the pre-Revolutionary +days can only be hinted at here. It was the +scene of Sir William Johnson's activities, the rendezvous +and recruiting post for Western expeditions. +Here was held the great treaty of 1764; and here +England made that alliance with the tribes which turned +their tomahawks against the "American rebels." It +may not be too much to say that the greatest horrors +of the Revolutionary War had their source in this spot. +Without Fort Niagara there would have been no massacre +of Wyoming,<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> no Cherry Valley and Bowman's +Creek outrages. Here it was that the cunning of +Montour and of Brant joined with the zeal of the But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>lers +and Guy Johnson, and all were directed and +sanctioned by the able and merciless Haldimand, then +Governor General of Canada. When Sullivan, the +avenger, approached in 1779, Fort Niagara trembled; +had he but known the weakness of the garrison then, +one page of our history would have been altered. The +British breathed easier when he turned back, but another +avenger was in the camp; for the 5,000 inflocking +Indians created a scarcity of provisions; and +starvation, disease and death, as had been the case +more than once before on this point, became the real +commanders of the garrison at Fort Niagara.</p> + +<p>I hurry over the Revolutionary period in order to +dwell, briefly, on the time following the treaty of 1783. +By that treaty Great Britain acknowledged the independence +of this country. When it was signed the +British held the posts of Point au Fer and Dutchmen's +Point on Lake Champlain, Oswegatchie on the St. +Lawrence, Oswego, Niagara, Detroit and Mackinac. +The last three were important depots for the fur trade +and were remote from the settled sections of the +country. The British alleged that they held on to +these posts because of the non-fulfillment of certain +clauses in the treaty by the American Government. +But Congress was impotent; it could only recommend +action on the part of the States, and the impoverished +States were at loggerheads with each other. England +waited to see the new Nation succumb to its own domestic +difficulties. It is exceedingly interesting to +note at this juncture the attitude of Gov. Haldimand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +In November, 1784, more than a year after the signing +of the treaty, he wrote to Brig. Gen. St. Leger: +"Different attempts having been made by the American +States to get possession of the posts in the Upper +Country, I have thought it my duty uniformly to oppose +the same until His Majesty's orders for that purpose +shall be received, and my conduct upon that +occasion having been approved, as you will see by enclosed +extract of a letter from His Majesty's Minister +of State, I have only to recommend to you a strict +attention to the same, which will be more than ever +necessary as uncommon returns of furs from the Upper +Country this year have increased the anxiety of the +Americans to become masters of it, and have prompted +them to make sacrifices to the Indians for that purpose"; +and he adds, after more in this vein, that +should evacuation be ordered, "on no account whatever +are any stores or provisions to be left in the forts" +for the use of the Americans.</p> + +<p>Not only did Haldimand, during the years immediately +following the treaty, refuse to consider any +overtures made by the Americans looking to a transfer +of the posts, but he was especially solicitous in maintaining +the garrisons, keeping them provisioned, and +the fortifications in good repair. There were over +2,000, troops, Loyalists and Indians, at Fort Niagara, +October 1, 1783. A year later it was much the best-equipped +post west of Montreal; and ten years later it +was not only well garrisoned and armed, mounting twelve +24-pounders, ten 12-pounders, two howitzers and five<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +mortars, with large store of shell and powder, but it had +become such an important depot of supply to the impoverished +Loyalists that a great scandal had arisen +over the matter of feeding them with King's stores; and +the last spring of the Britishers' sojourn here was +enlivened by the proceedings of a court of inquiry, +with a possible court-martial in prospect, over a wholesale +embezzlement of the King's flour.</p> + +<p>Haldimand prized Niagara at its true value. In +October, 1782, several months before peace was declared, +with admirable forethought and diplomacy, he +wrote to the Minister: "In case a peace or truce +should take place during the winter ... great +care should be taken that Niagara and Oswego should +be annexed to Canada, or comprehended in the general +words, that each of the contending parties in +North America should retain what they possessed at +the time. The possession of these two forts is essentially +necessary to the security as well as trade of the +country."<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> He ordered the commandant at Fort Niagara +to be very much on his guard against surprise by the wily +Americans, and at the same time to "be very industrious +in giving every satisfaction to our Indian allies."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> +<p>On the 2d of May, 1783, an express messenger from +Gen. Washington arrived at Fort Niagara, bringing the +terms of the treaty. The news gave great uneasiness +to Indian-Supt. Butler. "Strict attention to the Indians," +he wrote next day to Capt. Mathews, "has +hitherto kept them in good humor, but now I am fearful +of a sudden and disagreeable change in their conduct. +The Indians, finding that their lands are ceded +to the Americans, will greatly sour their tempers and +make them very troublesome." The British, with +good reason, were constantly considering the effect of +evacuation upon the Indians.</p> + +<p>The Americans made an ineffectual effort to get +early possession of the posts. New York State made a +proposition for garrisoning Oswego and Niagara, but +Congress did not accede. On January 21, 1784, Gov. +Clinton advised the New York State Senate and Assembly +on the subject. The British commander [Haldimand], +he said, had treated the Provisional Articles as +a suspension of hostilities only, "declined to withdraw +his garrison and refused us even to visit those +posts."<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> The Legislature agreed with the Governor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +that nothing could be done until spring.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> Spring found +them equally impotent. In March Gov. Clinton sent +a copy of the proclamation announcing the ratification +of the treaty to Gen. Haldimand: "Having no doubt +that Your Excellency will, as soon as the season admits, +withdraw the British garrisons under your command +from the places they now hold in the United States, +agreeable to the 7th Article of the Treaty, it becomes a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +part of my duty to make the necessary provisions for +receiving the Post of Niagara and the other posts +within the limits of this State, and it is for this purpose +I have now to request that Your Excellency would +give me every possible information of the time when +these posts are to be delivered up."</p> + +<p>Lieut.-Col. Fish, who carried Gov. Clinton's letter +to Quebec, received no satisfaction. Gen. Haldimand +evaded anything like a direct reply, saying that he +would obey the instructions of His Majesty's Ministers—whom +he was meanwhile urging to hold on to +the posts—but he gave the American officer the gratuitous +information that in his [Haldimand's] private +opinion "the posts should not be evacuated until such +time as the American States should carry into execution +the articles of the treaty in favor of the Loyalists; +that in conformity to that article [I quote from Haldimand's +report of the interview to Lord North], I had +given liberty to many of the unhappy people to go +into the States in order to solicit the recovery of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +estates and effects, but that they were glad to return, +without effecting anything after having been insulted +in the grossest manner; that although in compliance +with His Majesty's order, and [to] shun everything +which might tend to prevent a reconciliation between +the two countries, I had make no public representation +on that head. I could not be insensible to the sufferings +of those who had a right to look up to me for protection, +and that such conduct towards the Loyalists +was not a likely means to engage Great Britain to +evacuate the posts; for in all my transactions," he +adds, "I never used the words either of my 'delivering' +or their 'receiving' the posts, for reasons mentioned +in one of my former letters to Your Lordship." +And with this poor satisfaction Col. Fish was sent back +to Gov. Clinton.<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p> + +<p>In June, Maj.-Gen. Knox, Secretary of War, sent +Lieut.-Col. Hull to Quebec on the same errand. In a +most courteous letter he asked to be notified of the +time of evacuation, and proposed, "as a matter of mutual +convenience, an exchange of certain cannon and +stores now at these posts for others to be delivered at +West Point upon Hudson's River, New York, or some +other convenient place," and he added that Lieut.-Col. +Hull was fully authorized to make final arrangements, +"so that there may remain no impediment to +the march of the American troops destined for this ser<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>vice." +Holdfast Haldimand sent him back with no +satisfaction whatever, and again exulted, in his report +to Lord Sydney, over his success in withstanding the +Americans.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> It was with great reluctance that in the +summer of 1784 he reduced the number of British vessels +by one on each of the lakes Erie and Ontario. +"It appears to be an object of National advantage," he +wrote to an official of the British Treasury, "to prevent +the fur trade from being diverted to the American +States, and no measure is so likely to have effect as +the disallowing, as long as it shall be in our power, the +navigation of the lakes by vessels or small crafts of any +kind belonging to individuals; hence I was the more +inclined to indulge the merchants, though in opposition +to the plan of economy which I had laid down."<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p>In October, 1784, Congress ordered 700 men to be +raised for garrisoning the posts; but the season was +late, the States impotent or indifferent, and nothing +came of the order. Congress faithfully exercised all +the power it possessed in the matter. In 1783, and +again in 1787, it unanimously recommended to the +States (and the British commissioner was aware, when +the treaty was made, that Congress could do no more +than recommend) to comply speedily and exactly with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +that portion of the treaty that concerned creditors and +Royalists. The States were unable to act in concert, +and alleged infractions of the compact by the British, +as, indeed, there were. There was a sporadic show of +indignation in various quarters over the continued +retention of the posts; but in view of more vital +matters, and consciousness that the British claim of +unfulfilled conditions was not wholly unfounded, the +agitation slumbered for long periods, and matters remained +<i>in statu quo</i>.</p> + +<p>The establishment of the Federal Constitution in +1789 gave the States a new and firmer union; and the +success of Wayne's expedition materially loosened the +British hold on the Indians and the trade of the lake +region; so that Great Britain readily agreed to the +express stipulation in the commercial treaty of 1794, +that the posts should be evacuated "on or before the +1st of June, 1796." This treaty, commonly called +Jay's, was signed in London, November 19, 1794, but +not ratified until October 28, 1795. No transfer of +troops was then reasonably to be expected during the +winter. Indeed, it was not until April 25, 1796, that +Lord Dorchester officially informed his council at +Castle St. Louis that he had received a copy of the +treaty. Even then the transfer was postponed until +assurances could be had that English traders among the +Indians should not be unduly dealt with.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> There was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +much highly-interesting correspondence between Lord +Dorchester and the commandant at Niagara on this +point; with James McHenry, our Secretary of War; +with Robert Liston, the British Minister at Philadelphia; +and, of course, with the Duke of Portland and +others of the Ministry. Capt. Lewis, representing the +United States, was sent to Quebec for definite information +of British intention. He fared better than the +American emissaries had twelve years before. He was +cordially received and supplied with a copy of the +official order commanding evacuation of the posts. +Whereupon, having received the assurance which his +Government had so long sought, he immediately requested +that the posts should not be evacuated until the +troops of the United States should be at hand to pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>tect +the works and public buildings. "Being desirous," +wrote Lord Dorchester, "to meet the wishes of +the President, I have qualified my orders in a manner +that I think will answer this purpose."<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> Thus it happened +that the evacuation occurred at several different +dates. It not being thought necessary to await the +coming of American forces at the small posts on Lake +Champlain and at Oswegatchie, the British withdrew +from those points without ceremony about July 1st. +Detroit followed, July 11th; then Oswego, July 15th. +Most of the garrison appears to have left Fort Niagara +early in July, but an officer's guard remained until +August 11th,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> when American troops arrived from +Oswego, and the Stars and Stripes went to the masthead.</p> + +<p>I have dwelt upon this period in the history of Fort +Niagara at some length, partly because it is the exact +period marked by our celebration today, partly because +most of the data just related are gleaned from unpublished +official MSS., of which but scant use appears +to have been made by writers on the subject.</p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> +<p>Of Fort Niagara under the American flag I shall be +very brief. No loyal American can take pride in telling +of its surrender to the British, December 19, 1813. +There was neither a gallant defense nor a generous +enemy. Cowardice on the one hand and retaliation +on the other sum up the episode. The place was +restored to the United States March 27, 1815, and with +the exception of one brief interim has been maintained +as a garrison to this day. The Morgan affair of 1826 +need only be alluded to. The last defensive work of +consequence—the brick facing of the bastions, fronting +east—dates from 1861.</p> + +<p>In the continental view, Fort Niagara was never of +paramount importance. Before the British conquest, +Niagara was the key to the inner door, but Quebec was +the master-lock. The French Niagara need never +have been attacked; after the fall of Quebec it would +inevitably have become Great Britain's without a blow. +In English hands its importance was great, its expense +enormous. Without it, Detroit and Mackinac could +not have existed; yet England's struggle with the +rebellious colonies would have been inevitable, and +would have terminated exactly as it did, had she never +possessed a post in the lake region. And of Fort Niagara +as an American possession, the American historian +can say nothing more true than this: that it is a striking +exemplification of the fact that his beloved country +is ill prepared upon her frontiers for anything save a +state of international amity and undisturbed peace.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<h1>The Journals and Journeys of an<br /> +Early Buffalo Merchant.</h1> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE JOURNALS AND JOURNEYS OF +AN EARLY BUFFALO MERCHANT.</h2> + + +<p>On the frosty morning of February 5, 1822, a +strange equipage turned out of Erie Street into +Willink Avenue, Buffalo, drove down that +steep and ungraded highway for a short distance, then +crossed to Onondaga Street, and turning into Crow, +was soon lost to sight among the snowdrifts that lined +the road running round the south shore of Lake Erie. +At least, such I take to have been the route, through +streets now familiar as Main, Washington and Exchange, +which a traveler would choose who was bound +up the south shore of Lake Erie.</p> + +<p>The equipage, as I have said, was a strange one, and +a good many people came out to see it; not so much +to look at the vehicle as to bid good-bye to its solitary +passenger. The conveyance itself was nothing more +nor less than a good-sized crockery-crate, set upon +runners. Thills were attached, in which was harnessed +a well-conditioned horse. The baggage, snugly +stowed, included a saddle and saddle-bags, and a sack +of oats for the horse. Sitting among his effects, the +passenger, though raised but a few inches above the +snow, looked snug and comfortable. With a chorus +of well-wishes following him, he left the village and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +by nightfall had traveled many miles to the westward, +taking his course on the ice that covered Lake +Erie.</p> + +<p>This was John Lay, a merchant of the early Buffalo, +whom even yet it is only necessary to introduce to the +young people and to new-comers. The older generation +remembers well the enterprising and successful +merchant who shared fortunes with Buffalo in her most +romantic days. Before going after him, up the ice-covered +lake, let us make his closer acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Mr. Lay, who was of good New-England stock, +came to Buffalo in 1810 to clerk in the general store of +his brother-in-law, Eli Hart. Mr. Hart had built his +store on Main near the corner of Erie Street, the site +now occupied by the American Express Co.'s building. +His dwelling was on Erie Street, adjoining, and +between the house and store was an ample garden. +The space now occupied by St. Paul's Church and the +Erie County Savings Bank was a rough common; +native timber still stood thick along the east side of +Main, above South Division Street; the town had been +laid out in streets and lots for four years, and the +population, exceeding at that time 400, was rapidly +increasing. There was a turnpike road to the eastward, +with a stage route. Buffalo Creek flowed lazily +into the lake; no harbor had been begun; and on +quiet days in summer the bees could still be heard +humming among the basswoods by its waters.</p> + +<p>This was the Buffalo to which young Lay had come. +Looking back to those times, even more novel than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +the condition of the frontier village, was the character +of the frontier trade carried on by Mr. Hart. The +trade of the villagers was less important than that +which was held with the Canadians or English who +were in office under the Government. To them they +sold India goods, silks and muslins. Side by side with +these the shelves were stocked with hardware, crockery, +cottonades, jeans and flannels, Indian supplies, +groceries and liquors. The young New Englander +soon found that with such customers as Red Jacket and +other representative red-men his usefulness was impaired +unless he could speak Indian. With characteristic +energy he set himself at the task, and in three +months had mastered the Seneca. New goods came +from the East by the old Mohawk River and Lewiston +route, were poled up the Niagara from Schlosser's, +above the falls, on flatboats, and were stored in a log +house at the foot of Main Street.</p> + +<p>Up to 1810 the growth of Buffalo had been exceedingly +slow, even for a remote frontier point. But +about the time Mr. Lay came here new life was shown. +Ohio and Michigan were filling up, and the tide of +migration strengthened. Mr. Hart's market extended +yearly farther west and southwest, and for a time the +firm did a profitable business.</p> + +<p>Then came the war, paralysis of trade, and destruction +of property. Mr. Lay was enrolled as a private in +Butts's Company, for defense. The night the village +was burned he with his brother-in-law, Eli Hart, were +in their store. The people were in terror, fearing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +massacre by the Indians, hesitating to fly, not knowing +in which direction safety lay.</p> + +<p>"John," said Mr. Hart, "there's all that liquor in +the cellar—the redskins mustn't get at that."</p> + +<p>Together they went down and knocked in the heads +of all the casks until, as Mr. Lay said afterwards, they +stood up to their knees in liquor. As he was coming +up from the work he encountered a villainous-looking +Onondaga chief, who was knocking off the iron shutters +from the store windows. They had been none too +quick in letting the whisky run into the ground. Mr. +Lay said to the Indian:</p> + +<p>"You no hurt friend?"</p> + +<p>Just then a soldier jumped from his horse before the +door. Mr. Lay caught up a pair of saddle-bags, filled +with silver and valuable papers, threw them across the +horse, and cried out to his brother-in-law:</p> + +<p>"Here, jump on and strike out for the woods."</p> + +<p>Mr. Hart took this advice and started. The horse +was shot from under him, but the rider fell unharmed, +and, catching up the saddle-bags, made his way on foot +to the house of another brother-in-law, Mr. Comstock. +Later that day they came back to the town, and with +others they picked up thirty dead bodies and put them +into Rees's blacksmith shop, where the next day they +were burned with the shop.</p> + +<p>After starting his relatives toward safety, Mr. Lay +thought of himself. The Onondaga had disappeared, +and Mr. Lay went into the house, took a long surtout +that hung on the wall and put it on. As he stepped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +out of the door he was taken prisoner, and that night, +with many others, soldiers and civilians, was carried +across the river to Canada.</p> + +<p>And here begins an episode over which I am +tempted to linger; for the details of his captivity, as +they were related to me by his widow, the late Mrs. +Frances Lay, are worthy of consideration. I will only +rehearse, as briefly as possible, the chief events of this +captivity in Canada, which, although not recorded in +Mr. Lay's journals, resulted in one of his most arduous +and adventurous journeys.</p> + +<p>The night of December 30, 1813, was bitterly cold. +The captured and the captors made a hard march from +Fort Erie to Newark—or, as we know it now, +Niagara, Ont., on Lake Ontario. The town was full +of Indians, and many of the Indians were full of +whisky. Under the escort of a body-guard Mr. Lay +was allowed to go to the house of a Mrs. Secord, whom +he knew. While there, the enemy surrounded the +house and demanded Lay, but Mrs. Secord hid him in +a closet, and kept him concealed until Mr. Hart, who +had followed with a flag of truce, had learned of his +safety. Then came the long, hard march through +Canadian snows to Montreal. The prisoners were put +on short rations, were grudgingly given water to drink, +and were treated with such unnecessary harshness that +Mr. Lay boldly told the officer in charge of the expedition +that on reaching Montreal he should report him to +the Government for violating the laws of civilized warfare.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> + +<p>In March he was exchanged at Greenbush, opposite +Albany. There he got some bounty and footed it +across the country to Oneida, where his father lived. +As he walked through the village he saw his father's +sleigh in front of the postoffice, where his parents had +gone, hoping for news from him. They burned his +war-rags, and he rested for a time at his father's home, +sick of the horrors of war and fearful lest his constitution +had been wrecked by the hardships he had undergone. +It will be noted that this enforced journey from +Buffalo through Canada to Montreal and thence south +and west to Oneida had been made in the dead of +winter and chiefly, if not wholly, on foot. Instead of +killing him, as his anxious parents feared it might, the +experience seems to have taught him the pleasures of +pedestrianism, for it is on foot and alone that we are to +see him undertaking some of his most extended journeys.</p> + +<p>I cannot even pause to call attention to the slow +recovery of Buffalo from her absolute prostration. The +first house rebuilt here after the burning was that of +Mrs. Mary Atkins, a young widow, whose husband, +Lieut. Asael Atkins, had died of an epidemic only ten +days before the village was destroyed. The young +widow had fled with the rest, finding shelter at +Williamsville, until her new house was raised on the +foundation of the old. It stood on the corner of Church +and Pearl streets, where the Stafford Building now is.</p> + +<p>The reader is perhaps wondering what all this has to +do with John Lay. Merely this: that when, at Mr. +Hart's solicitation, Mr. Lay once more returned to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +Buffalo, he boarded across the common from the rebuilt +store, with the Widow Atkins, and later on married her +daughter Frances, who, many years his junior, long survived +him, and to whose vigorous memory and kind graciousness +we are indebted for these pictures of the past.</p> + +<p>The years that followed the War of 1812 were devoted +by Messrs. Hart & Lay to a new upbuilding of +their business. Mr. Hart, who had ample capital, +went to New York to do the buying for the firm, and +continued to reside there, establishing as many as five +general stores in different parts of Western New York. +He had discerned in his young relative a rare combination +of business talents, made him a partner, and +entrusted him with the entire conduct of the business +at Buffalo. After peace was declared the commercial +opportunities of a well-equipped firm here were great. +Each season brought in larger demands from the +western country. Much of the money that accrued +from the sale of lands of the Holland Purchase flowed +in the course of trade into their hands. The pioneer +families of towns to the west of Buffalo came hither +to trade, and personal friendships were cemented +among residents scattered through a large section. I +find no period of our local history so full of activities. +From Western New York to Illinois it was a time of +foundation-laying. Let me quote a few paragraphs +from memoranda which Mrs. Lay made relating to this +period:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The war had brought men of strong character, able to cope +with pioneer life; among others, professional men, surgeons,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +doctors and lawyers: Trowbridge, Marshall, Johnson, and many +others. Elliot of Erie was a young lawyer, of whom Mr. Lay had +often said, "His word is as good as his bond." Another friend +was Hamot of Erie, who had married Mr. Hart's niece. He +made frequent visits to his countryman, Louis Le Couteulx. [At +whose house, by the way, John Lay and Frances Atkins were +married, Red Jacket being among the guests.] At Erie, then a +naval station, were the families of Dickinson, Brown, Kelso, Reed, +Col. Christy, and many others, all numbered among Mr. Lay's +patrons. Albert H. Tracy came here about that time; he brought +a letter from his brother Phineas, who had married Mr. Lay's +sister. He requested Mr. Lay to do for him what he could in the +way of business. Mr. Lay gave him a room over his store, +and candles and wood for five years. Even in those days +Mr. Tracy used to declare that he should make public life his +business.</p> + +<p>Hart & Lay became consignees for the Astors in the fur business. +I well remember that one vessel-load of furs from the West +got wet. To dry them Mr. Lay spread them on the grass, filling +the green where the churches now are. The wet skins tainted the +air so strongly that Mr. Lay was threatened with indictment—but +he saved the Astors a large sum of money.</p></div> + +<p>Hart & Lay acquired tracts of land in Canada, +Ohio and Michigan. To look after these and other +interests Mr. Lay made several adventurous journeys to +the West—such journeys as deserve to be chronicled +with minutest details, which are not known to have +been preserved. On one occasion, to look after +Detroit interests, he went up the lake on the ice with +Maj. Barton and his wife; the party slept in the wigwams +of Indians, and Mr. Lay has left on record his +admiration of Mrs. Barton's ability to make even such +rough traveling agreeable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span></p> + +<p>A still wilder journey took him to Chicago. He +went alone, save for his Indian guides, and somewhere +in the Western wilderness they came to him and told +him they had lost the trail. Before it was regained +their provisions were exhausted, and they lived for a +time on a few kernels of corn, a little mutton tallow, +and a sip of whisky. Fort Dearborn—or Chicago—at +that date had but one house, a fur-trading post. +When Mr. Lay and his guides reached there they were +so near starvation that the people dared give them +only a teaspoonful of pigeon soup at a time. Nor had +starvation been the only peril on this journey. An +attempt to rob him, if not to murder him, lent a grim +spice to the experience. Mr. Lay discovered that he +was followed, and kept his big horse-pistols in readiness. +One night, as he lay in a log-house, he suddenly felt a +hand moving along the belt which he wore at his waist. +Instantly he raised his pistol and fired. The robber +dashed through the window, and he was molested no +more.</p> + +<p>Such adventurous journeyings as these formed no +inconsiderable part of the work of this pushing Buffalo +merchant during the half dozen years that followed +the burning of the town. Business grew so that half a +dozen clerks were employed, and there were frequently +crowds of people waiting to be served. The store +became a favorite rendezvous of prominent men of the +place.</p> + +<p>Many a war episode was told over there. Albert +Gallatin and Henry Clay, Jackson and the United<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +States banks—the great men and measures of the day—were +hotly discussed there; and many a time did +the group listen as Mr. Lay read from <i>Niles' Register</i>, +of which he was a constant subscriber. There +were sometimes lively scrimmages there, as the following +incident, narrated by Mrs. Lay, will illustrate:</p> + +<p>There was a family in New York City whose son +was about to form a misalliance. His friends put him +under Mr. Hart's care, and he brought the youth to +Buffalo. Here, however, an undreamed-of difficulty +was encountered. A young Seneca squaw, well known +in town as Suse, saw the youth from New York and fell +desperately in love with him. Mr. Lay, not caring to +take the responsibility of such a match-making, shipped +the young man back to New York. The forest maiden +was disconsolate; but, unlike <i>Viola</i>, she told her love, +nor "let concealment, like the worm i' the bud, feed +on her damask cheek." Not a bit of it. On the contrary, +whenever Suse saw Mr. Lay she would ask him +where her friend was. One day she went into the +store, and, going up to the counter behind which Mr. +Lay was busy, drew a club from under her blanket and +"let him have it" over the shoulders. The attack +was sudden, but just as suddenly did he jump over the +counter and tackle her. Suse was a love-lorn maid, +but she was strong as a wildcat and as savage. Albert +H. Tracy, who was in the store, afterwards described +the trouble to Mrs. Lay.</p> + +<p>"I never saw a fight," he said, "where both par<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>ties +came so near being killed; but Lay got the better +of her, and yanked her out into the street with her +clothes torn off from her."</p> + +<p>"I should think you would have helped John," said +the gentle lady, as Mr. Tracy told her this.</p> + +<p>By the close of the year 1821, although still a young +man, the subject of this sketch had made a considerable +fortune. Feeling the need of rest, and anxious to +extend his horizon beyond the frontier scenes to which +he was accustomed, he decided to go to Europe. +Telling Mr. Hart to get another partner, the business +was temporarily left in other hands; and on February +5, 1822, as narrated at the opening of this paper, Mr. +Lay drove out of town in a crockery-crate, and took +his course up the ice-covered lake, bound for Europe.</p> + +<p>Recall, if you please, something of the conditions +of those times. No modern journeyings that we can +conceive of, short of actual exploration in unknown +regions, are quite comparable to such an undertaking +as Mr. Lay proposed. Partly, perhaps, because it was +a truly extraordinary thing for a frontier merchant to +stop work and set off for an indefinite period of sight-seeing; +and partly, too, because he was a man whose +love for the accumulation of knowledge was regulated +by precise habits, we are now able to follow him in +the closely-written, faded pages of half a dozen fat +journals, written by his own hand day by day during +the two years of his wanderings. No portion of these +journals has ever been published; yet they are full of +interesting pictures of the past, and show Mr. Lay to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +have been a close observer and a receptive student of +nature and of men.</p> + +<p>The reason for his crockery-crate outfit may have +been divined. He wanted a sleigh which he could +leave behind without loss when the snow disappeared.</p> + +<p>Business took him first to Cleveland, which he +reached in six days, driving much of the distance on the +lake. Returning, at Erie he headed south and followed +the old French Creek route to the Allegheny. +Presently the snow disappeared. The crockery-crate +sleigh was abandoned, and the journey lightly continued +in the saddle; among the few <i>impedimenta</i> which +were carried in the saddle-bags being "a fine picture +of Niagara Falls, painted on satin, and many Indian +curiosities to present to friends on the other side."</p> + +<p>Pittsburg was reached March 2d; and, after a delay +of four days, during which he sold his horse for $30, we +find our traveler embarked on the new steamer Gen. +Neville, carrying $120,000 worth of freight and fifty +passengers.</p> + +<p>Those were the palmy days of river travel. There +were no railroads to cut freight rates, or to divert the +passenger traffic. The steamers were the great transporters +of the middle West. The Ohio country was +just emerging from the famous period which made the +name "river-man" synonymous with all that was disreputable. +It was still the day of poor taverns, poor +food, much bad liquor, fighting, and every manifestation +of the early American vulgarity, ignorance and +boastfulness which amazed every foreigner who ven<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>tured +to travel in that part of the United States, +and sent him home to magnify his bad impressions in +a book. But with all its discomforts, the great Southern +river route of 1822 proved infinitely enjoyable to +our Buffalonian. At Louisville, where the falls intercepted +travel, he reëmbarked on the boat Frankfort +for a fourteen-days' journey to New Orleans. +Her cargo included barrels of whisky, hogsheads of +tobacco, some flour and cotton, packs of furs, and two +barrels of bear's oil—how many years, I wonder, +since that last item has been found in a bill of lading +on an Ohio steamer!</p> + +<p>I must hurry our traveler on to New Orleans, where, +on a Sunday, he witnessed a Congo dance, attended +by 5,000 people, and at a theater saw "The Battle of +Chippewa" enacted. There are antiquarians of the +Niagara Frontier today who would start for New +Orleans by first train if they thought they could see +that play.</p> + +<p>April 27th, Mr. Lay sailed from New Orleans, the +only passenger on the ship Triton, 310 tons, cotton-laden, +for Liverpool. It was ten days before they +passed the bar of the Mississippi and entered the Gulf, +and it was not until June 28th that they anchored in +the Mersey. The chronicle of this sixty days' voyage, +as is apt to be the case with journals kept at sea, is exceedingly +minute in detail. Day after day it is +recorded that "we sailed thirty miles to-day," "sailed +forty miles to-day," etc. There's travel for you—thirty +miles on long tacks, in twenty-four hours! The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +ocean greyhound was as yet unborn. The chief diversion +of the passage was a gale which blew them along +195 miles in twenty-four hours; and an encounter +with a whaleship that had not heard a word from the +United States in three years. "I tossed into their +boat," Mr. Lay writes, "a package of newspapers. +The captain clutched them with the avidity of a starving +man."</p> + +<p>Ashore in Liverpool, the first sight he saw was a +cripple being carried through the streets—the only +survivor from the wreck of the President, just lost on +the Irish coast.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<p>He hastened to London just too late to witness the +coronation of George IV., but followed the multitude +to Scotland, where, as he writes, "the outlay of attentions +to this bad man was beyond belief. Many of +the nobility were nearly ruined thereby." He was in +Edinburgh on the night of August 15, 1822, when that +city paid homage to the new King; saw the whole +coast of Fife illuminated "with bonfires composed of +thirty tons of coal and nearly 1,000 gallons of tar and +other combustibles"; and the next day, wearing a +badge of Edinburgh University, was thereby enabled +to gain a good place to view the guests as they passed +on their way to a royal levee. To the nobility our +Buffalonian gave little heed; but when Sir Walter +Scott's carriage drove slowly by he gazed his fill. "He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +has gray thin hair and a thoughtful look," Mr. Lay +wrote. "The Heart of Midlothian" had just been +published, and Mr. Lay went on foot over all the +ground mentioned in that historical romance. He +stayed in pleasant private lodgings in Edinburgh for six +months, making pedestrian excursions to various parts +of Scotland. In twenty-eight days of these wanderings +he walked 260 miles.</p> + +<p>Instead of following him closely in these rambles, +my readers are asked to recall, for a moment, the time +of this visit. Great Britain was as yet, to all intents +and purposes, in the eighteenth century. She had few +canals and no railroads, no applied uses of steam and +electricity. True, Stephenson had experimented on +the Killingworth Railway in 1814; but Parliament had +passed the first railway act only a few months before +Mr. Lay reached England, and the railway era did not +actually set in until eight years later. There is no +reference in the Lay journals to steam locomotives or +railways. Liverpool, which was built up by the African +slave trade, was still carrying it on; the Reform Bill +was not born in Parliament; it was still the old <i>régime</i>.</p> + +<p>Our traveler was much struck by the general bad +opinion which prevailed regarding America. On +meeting him, people often could not conceal their surprise +that so intelligent and well-read a man should be +an American, and a frontier tradesman at that. They +quizzed him about the workings of popular government.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I told them [writes this true-hearted democrat] that as long as +we demanded from our public men honesty and upright dealings,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +our institutions would be safe, but when men could be bought or +sold I feared the influence would operate ruinously, as all former +republics had failed for lack of integrity and honesty.</p></div> + +<p>His political talks brought to him these definitions, +which I copy from his journal:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Tory was originally a name given to the wild Irish robbers who +favored the massacre of the Protestants in 1641. It was afterward +applied to all highflyers of the Church. Whig was a name +first given to the country field-elevation meetings, their ordinary +drink being whig, or whey, or coagulated sour milk. Those +against the Court interest during the reigns of Charles II. and +James II. and for the Court in the reigns of William and George +I. were called Whigs. A Yankee is thus defined by an Englishman, +who gives me what is most likely the correct derivation of +the epithet: The Cherokee word eanker [?] signifies coward or +slave. The Virginians gave the New Englanders this name for +not assisting in a war with the Cherokees in the early settlement +of their country, but after the affair of Bunker Hill the New Englanders +gloried in the name, and in retaliation called the Virginians +Buckskins, in allusion to their ancestors being hunters, and selling +as well as wearing buckskins in place of cloth.</p></div> + +<p>In Edinburgh he saw and heard much of some of +Scotia's chief literary folk. Burns had been dead +twenty-six years, but he was still much spoken of, +much read, and admired far more than when he lived. +With Mr. Stenhouse, who for years was an intimate +of Burns, Mr. Lay formed a close acquaintance:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Mr. Stenhouse has in his possession [says the journal] the mss. +of all of Burns's writings. I have had the pleasure of perusing +them, which I think a great treat. In the last of Burns's letters +which I read he speaks of his approaching dissolution with sorrow, +of the last events in his life in the most touching and delicate +language.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> + +<p>The journal relates some original Burns anecdotes, +which Mr. Lay had from the former companions of the +bard, but which have probably never been made public, +possibly because—in characteristic contrast to the +letter referred to above—they are touching but <i>not</i> +delicate.</p> + +<p>Our Buffalonian encountered numerous literary lions, +and writes entertainingly of them. He speaks often of +Scott, who he says "is quite the theme. He is constantly +writing—something from his pen is shortly +expected. I saw him walking on the day of the grand +procession. He is very lame, has been lame from his +youth, a fact I did not know before." James Hogg, +author of the "Winter Evening Tales," lived near +Edinburgh. Mr. Lay described him as "a singular +rustic sort of a genius, but withal clever—very little +is said about him."</p> + +<p>I have touched upon Mr. Lay's achievements in +pedestrianism, a mode of travel which he doubtless +adopted partly because of the vigorous pleasure it afforded, +partly because it was the only way in which to visit +some sections of the country. A man who had walked +from Fort Erie to Montreal, to say nothing of hundreds +of miles done under pleasanter circumstances, +would naturally take an interest in the pedestrian +achievements of others. Whoever cares for this +"sport" will find in the Lay journals unexpected +revelations on the diversions and contests of three-quarters +of a century ago. Have we not regarded the +walking-match as a modern mania, certainly not ante<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>dating +Weston's achievements? Yet listen to this page +of the old journal, dated Edinburgh, Aug. 27, 1822:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I went to see a pedestrian named Russell, from the north of +England, who had undertaken to walk 102 miles in twenty-four +successive hours. He commenced his task yesterday at 1.15 +o'clock. The spot chosen was in the vale between the Mound +and the North Bridge, which gave an opportunity for a great +number of spectators to see him to advantage; yet the numbers +were so great and so much interested that there were persons constantly +employed to clear his way. The ground he walked over +measured one eighth of a mile. I saw him walk the last mile, +which he did in twelve minutes. He finished his task with eleven +minutes to spare, and was raised on the shoulders of men and +borne away to be put into a carriage from which the horses were +taken. The multitude then drew him through many principal +streets of the city in triumph. The Earl of Fyfe agreed to give +him £30 if he finished his work within the given time. He +also got donations from others. Large bets were depending, one +of 500 guineas. He carried a small blue flag toward the last and +was loudly cheered by the spectators at intervals.</p></div> + +<p>Nor was the "sport" confined to Scotland. August +4, 1823, being in London, Mr. Lay writes:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>To-day a girl of eight years of age undertook to walk thirty +miles in eight consecutive hours. She accomplished her task in +seven hours and forty-nine minutes without being distressed. A +wager of 100 sovereigns was laid. This great pedestrian feat took +place at Chelsea.</p></div> + +<p>A few weeks later he writes again:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This is truly the age of pedestrianism. A man has just accomplished +1,250 miles in twenty successive days. He is now to +walk backward forty miles a day for three successive days. Mr. +Irvine, the pedestrian, who attempted to walk from London to +York and back, 394 miles, in five days and eight hours, accomplished +it in five days seven and one-half hours.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + +<p>With men walking backwards and eight-years-old +girls on the track, these Britons of three-quarters of a +century ago still deserve the palm. But Mr. Lay's +own achievements are not to be lightly passed over. +Before leaving London he wrote: "The whole length +of my perambulations in London and vicinity exceeds +1,200 miles."</p> + +<p>The journals, especially during the months of his +residence in Scotland, abound in descriptions of people +and of customs now pleasant to recall because for the +most part obsolete. He heard much rugged theology +from Scotland's greatest preachers; had an encounter +with robbers in the dark and poorly-policed streets of +Edinburgh; had his pockets picked while watching the +King; and saw a boy hanged in public for house-breaking. +With friends he went to a Scotch wedding, +the description of which is so long that I can only give +parts of it:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>About forty had assembled. The priest, a Protestant, united +them with much ceremony, giving them a long lecture, after +which dinner was served up and whisky toddy. At six, dancing +commenced and was kept up with spirit until eleven, when we had +tea, after which dancing continued until three in the morning. +The Scotch dances differ from the American, and the dancers hold +out longer. The girls particularly do not tire so early as ours at +home. We retired to the house where the bride and groom were +to be bedded. The females of the party first put the bride to bed, +and the bridegroom was then led in by the men. After both were +in bed liquor was served. The groom threw his left-leg hose. +Whoever it lights upon is next to be married. The stocking +lighted on my head, which caused a universal shout. We reached +home at half past six in the morning, on foot.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<p>I have been much too long in getting Mr. Lay to +London, to go about much with him there. And yet +the temptation is great, for to an American of Mr. +Lay's intelligence and inquiring mind the great city +was beyond doubt the most diverting spot on earth. +One of the first sights he saw—a May-day procession +of chimney-sweeps, their clothes covered with gilt +paper—belonged more to the seventeenth century +than to the nineteenth. Peel and Wilberforce, +Brougham and Lord Gower, were celebrities whom he +lost no time in seeing. On the Thames he saw the +grand annual rowing match for the Othello wherry +prize, given by Edmund Kean in commemoration of +Garrick's last public appearance on June 10, 1776. +Mr. Lay's description of the race, and of Kean himself, +who "witnessed the whole in an eight-oared cutter," +is full of color and appreciative spirit. He saw a man +brought before the Lord Mayor who "on a wager had +eaten two pounds of candles and drank seven glasses of +rum," and who at another time had eaten at one meal +"nine pounds of ox hearts and taken drink proportionately"; +and he went to Bartholomew's Fair, that +most audacious of English orgies, against which even +the public sentiment of that loose day was beginning +to protest. As American visitors at Quebec feel to-day +a flush of patriotic resentment when the orderly in the +citadel shows them the little cannon captured at Bunker +Hill, so our loyal friend, with more interest than +pleasure, saw in the chapel at Whitehall, "on each side +and over the altar eight or ten eagles, taken from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +French, and flags of different nations; the eagle of the +United States is among them, two taken at New Orleans, +one at Fort Niagara, one at Queenston, and three at +Detroit"; but like the American at Quebec, who, the +familiar story has it, on being taunted with the captured +Bunker Hill trophy, promptly replied, "Yes, you got +the cannon, but we kept the hill," Mr. Lay, we may +be sure, found consolation in the thought that though +we lost a few eagle-crested standards, we kept the Bird +o' Freedom's nest.</p> + +<p>On July 5, 1823, he crossed London Bridge on foot, +and set out on an exploration of rural England; tourings +in which I can not take space to follow him. +When he first went abroad he had contemplated a trip +on the continent. This, however, he found it advisable +to abandon, and on October 5, 1823, on board +the Galatea, he was beating down the channel, bound +for Boston. The journey homeward was full of grim +adventure. A tempest attended them across the +Atlantic. In one night of terror, "which I can never +forget," he writes, "the ship went twice entirely +around the compass, and in very short space, with continual +seas breaking over her." The sailors mutinied +and tried to throw the first mate into the sea. Swords, +pistols and muskets were made ready by the captain. +Mr. Lay armed himself and helped put down the +rebellion. When the captain was once more sure of +his command, "Jack, a Swede, was taken from his +confinement, lashed up, and whipped with a cat-o'-nine-tails, +then sent to duty." The dose of cat was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +afterwards administered to the others. It is no wonder +that the traveler's heart was cheered when, on November +13th, the storm-tossed Galatea passed under the +guns of Forts Warren and Independence and he stepped +ashore at Boston.</p> + +<p>He did not hurry away, but explored that city and +vicinity thoroughly, going everywhere on foot, as he +had, for the most part, in England. He visited the +theaters and saw the celebrities of the day, both of +the stage and the pulpit. At the old Boston Theater, +Cooper was playing <i>Marc Antony</i>, with Mr. Finn as +<i>Brutus</i>, and Mr. Barrett as <i>Cassius</i>.</p> + +<p>On November 20th he pictures a New-England +Thanksgiving:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This is Thanksgiving Day throughout the State of Massachusetts. +It is most strictly observed in this city; no business +whatever is transacted—all shops remained shut throughout the +day. All the churches in the city were open, divine service performed, +and everything wore the appearance of Sunday. Great +dinners are prepared and eaten on this occasion, and in the evening +the theaters and ball-rooms tremble with delight and carriages +fill the streets.... A drunken, riotous gang of fellows got +under our windows yelping and making a great tumult.</p></div> + +<p>A week later, sending his baggage ahead by stage-coach, +he passed over Cambridge Bridge, on foot for +Buffalo, by way of New York, Philadelphia, Washington, +Pittsburg and Erie.</p> + +<p>Once more I must regret that reasonable demands +on the reader's patience will not let me dwell with much +detail on the incidents and observations of this unusual +journey. No man could take such a grand walk and fail<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +to see and learn much of interest. But here was a practical, +shrewd, observant gentleman who, just returned +from two years in Great Britain, was studying his own +countrymen and weighing their condition and ideas +by most intelligent standards. The result is that the +pages of the journals reflect with unaccustomed fidelity +the spirit of those days, and form a series of historical +pictures not unworthy our careful attention. Just a +glimpse or two by the way, and I am through.</p> + +<p>The long-settled towns of Massachusetts and Connecticut +appeared to him in the main thrifty and growing. +Hartford he found a place of 7,000 inhabitants, +"completely but irregularly built, the streets crooked +and dirty, with sidewalks but no pavements." He +passed through Wethersfield, "famous for its quantities +of onions. A church was built here, and its bell purchased," +he records, "with this vegetable." New +Haven struck him as "elegant, but not very flourishing, +with 300 students in Yale." Walking from +twenty-five to thirty-five miles a day, he reached Rye, +just over the New York State line, on the ninth day +from Boston, and found people burning turf or peat for +fuel, the first of this that he had noticed in the United +States.</p> + +<p>At Harlem Bridge, which crosses to New York +Island, he found some fine houses, "the summer residences +of opulent New Yorkers"; and the next day +"set out for New York, seven miles distant, over a +perfectly straight and broad road, through a rough, +rocky and unpleasing region." In New York, where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +he rested a few days, he reviewed his New England +walk of 212 miles:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The general aspect of the country is pleasing; inns are provided +with the best, the people are kind and attentive. I think I have +never seen tables better spread. I passed through thirty-six +towns on the journey, which are of no mean appearance. I never +had a more pleasant or satisfactory excursion. There are a great +number of coaches for public conveyance plying on this great +road. The fare is $12 for the whole distance. Formerly it was +254 miles between Boston and New York, but the roads are now +straightened, which has shortened the distance to 212 miles.</p></div> + +<p>He had experienced a Boston Thanksgiving. In +New York, on Thursday, December 18th, he had another +one. Thanksgiving then was a matter of State proclamation, +as now, but the day had not been given its +National character, and in many of the States was not +observed at all. We have seen what it was like in +Boston. In New York, "business appears as brisk as +on any other laboring day." The churches, however, +were open for service, and our traveler went to hear +the Rev. Mr. Cummings in Vanderventer Street, and to +contribute to a collection in behalf of the Greeks.</p> + +<p>Four days before Christmas he crossed to Hoboken, +and trudged his way through New Jersey snow and +mud to Philadelphia, which he reached on Christmas. +At the theater that night he attended—</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>a benefit for Mr. Booth of Covent Garden, London, and was filled +with admiration for Mr. Booth, but the dancing by Miss Hathwell +was shocking in the extreme. The house was for a long time in +great uproar, and nothing would quiet them but an assurance +from the manager of Mr. Booth's reappearance.</p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>This of course was Junius Brutus Booth. Here is Mr. +Lay's pen-picture of Philadelphia seventy-six years ago:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The streets of Philadelphia cross at right angles; are perfectly +straight, well-paved but miserably lighted. The sidewalks break +with wooden bars on which various things are suspended, and in +the lower streets these bars are appropriated for drying the washwomen's +clothes. Carpets are shaken in the streets at all hours, +and to the annoyance of the passer-by. Mr. Peale of the old +Philadelphia Museum was lecturing three nights a week on galvanism, +and entertaining the populace with a magic lantern.</p></div> + +<p>It is much the same Philadelphia yet.</p> + +<p>January 8th, Mr. Lay took his way south to Baltimore, +making slow progress because of muddy roads; +but he had set out to walk, and so he pushed ahead +on to Washington, although there were eight coaches +daily for the conveyance of passengers between the +two cities, the fare being $4. The road for part of +the way lay through a wilderness. "The inns generally +were bad and the attention to travelers indifferent."</p> + +<p>In Washington, which he reached on January 14th, he +lost no time in going to the House of Representatives, +where he was soon greeted by Albert H. Tracy, whose +career in Congress I assume to be familiar to the reader.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>On the day named, the House was crowded to excess with +spectators, a great number of whom were ladies, in consequence +of Mr. Clay's taking the floor. He spoke for two hours +on the subject of internal improvements, and the next day the +question of erecting a statue to Washington somewhere about +the Capitol, was debated warmly.</p></div> + +<p>On his return North, in passing through Baltimore, he +called on Henry Niles, who as editor of <i>Niles' Weekly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +Register</i>, was to thousands of Americans of that day +what Horace Greeley became later on—an oracle; +and on January 18th struck out over a fine turnpike +road for Pittsburg.</p> + +<p>The Pittsburg pike was then the greatest highway to +the West. The Erie Canal was nearing completion, +and the stage-routes across New York State saw much +traffic. Yet the South-Pennsylvania route led more +directly to the Ohio region, and it had more traffic +from the West to the East than the more northern +highways had for years to come. In the eastern part +of the State it extends through one of the most fertile +and best-settled parts of the United States. Farther +west it climbs a forest-clad mountain, winds +through picturesque valleys, and from one end of the +great State to the other is yet a pleasant path for the +modern tourist. The great Conestoga wagons in endless +trains, which our pedestrian seldom lost sight of, +have now disappeared. The wayside inns are gone or +have lost their early character, and the locomotive has +everywhere set a new pace for progress.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Lay entered the Blue Ridge section, beyond +Chambersburg, he found Dutch almost the only +language spoken. The season was at first mild, and as +he tramped along the Juniata, it seemed to him like +May. "Land," he notes, "is to be had at from $1 +to $3 per acre." It took him seventeen days to walk +to Pittsburg. Of the journey as a whole he says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>At Chambersburg the great stage route from Philadelphia +unites with the Baltimore road. Taverns on these roads are fre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>quent +and nearly in sight of each other. The gates for the collection +of tolls differ in distance—some five, others ten, and others +twenty-five miles asunder. Notwithstanding the travel is great +the stock yields no profit, but, on the contrary, it is a sinking concern +on some parts, and several of the companies are in debt for +opening the road. About $100 per mile are annually expended in +repairs. It cost a great sum to open the road, particularly that +portion leading over the mountains and across the valleys.</p> + +<p>Taverns are very cheap in their charges; meals are a fourth of +a dollar, beds 6¼ cents, liquors remarkably cheap. Their tables +are loaded with food in variety, well prepared and cleanly served +up with the kindest attention and smiling cheerfulness. The +women are foremost in kind abilities. Beer is made at Chambersburg +of an excellent quality and at other places. A good deal +of this beverage is used and becoming quite common; it is found +at most of the good taverns. Whisky is universally drank and it +is most prevalent. Places for divine service are rarely to be met +with immediately on the road. The inhabitants, however, are +provided with them not far distant in the back settlements, for +almost the whole distance. The weather has been so cold that +for the two last days before reaching Pittsburg I could not keep +myself comfortable in walking; indeed, I thought several times I +might perish.</p></div> + +<p>In Pittsburg he lodged at the old Spread Eagle +Tavern, and afterwards at Conrad Upperman's inn on +Front Street at $2 a week. He found the city dull +and depressed:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The streets are almost deserted, a great number of the houses +not tenanted, shops shut, merchants and mechanics failed; the +rivers are both banked by ice, and many other things wearing the +aspect of decayed trade and stagnation of commerce. Money I +find purchases things very low. Flour from this city is sent over +the mountains to Philadelphia for $1 per barrel, which will little +more than half pay the wagoner's expenses for the 280 miles. +Superfine flour was $4.12½ in Philadelphia, and coal three cents<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +per bushel. Coal for cooking is getting in use in this city—probably +two-thirds the cooking is with coal.</p></div> + +<p>He had had no trouble up to this point in sending +his baggage ahead. It was some days before the stage +left for Erie. All was at length dispatched, however, +and on February 14th he crossed over to Allegheny—I +think there was no bridge there then—and marched +along, day after day, through Harmony, Mercer and +Meadville, his progress much impeded by heavy snow; +at Waterford he met his old friend G. A. Elliott, and +went to a country dance; and, finally, on February 20th +found himself at Mr. Hamot's dinner-table in Erie, +surrounded by old friends. They held him for two +days; then, in spite of heavy snow, he set out on foot +for Buffalo. Even the faded pages of the old journal +which hold the record of these last few days bespeak +the eager nervousness which one long absent feels as +his wanderings bring him near home. With undaunted +spirit, our walker pushed on eastward to the house of +Col. N. Bird, two miles beyond Westfield; and the +next day, with Col. Bird, drove through a violent snow-storm +to Mayville to visit Mr. William Peacock—the +first ride he had taken since landing in Boston in +November of the previous year. But he was known +throughout the neighborhood, and his friends seem to +have taken possession of him. From Mr. Bird's he +went in a stage-sleigh to Fredonia to visit the Burtons. +Snow two feet deep detained him in Hanover town, +where friends showed him "some tea-seed bought of a +New-England peddler, who left written directions for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +its cultivation." "It's all an imposition," is Mr. +Lay's comment—but what a horde of smooth-tongued +tricksters New England has to answer for!</p> + +<p>The stage made its way through the drifts with difficulty +to the Cattaraugus, where Mr. Lay left it, and +stoutly set out on foot once more. For the closing +stages of this great journey let me quote direct from +the journal:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I proceeded over banks of drifted snow until I reached James +Marks's, who served breakfast. The stage wagon came up again, +when we went on through the Four-mile woods, stopping to see +friends and spending the night with Russell Goodrich. On February +29th [two years and twenty-four days from the date of setting +out] I drove into Buffalo on Goodrich's sleigh and went +straight to Rathbun's, where I met a great number of friends, +and was invited to take a ride in Rathbun's fine sleigh with four +beautiful greys. We drove down the Niagara as far as Mrs. +Seely's and upset once.</p></div> + +<p>What happier climax could there have been for this +happy home-coming!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<h1>Misadventures of Robert Marsh.</h1> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> +<h2>MISADVENTURES OF ROBERT MARSH.</h2> + + +<p>Robert Marsh claimed American citizenship, +but the eventful year of 1837 found him on the +Canadian side of the Niagara River. His +brother was a baker at Chippewa, and Robert drove a +cart, laden with the bakery products, back and forth +between the neighboring villages. From St. Catharines +to Fort Erie he dispensed bread and crackers and +the other perhaps not wholly harmless ammunition that +was moulded in that Chippewa bakery; and he naturally +absorbed the ideas and the sentiments of the men +he met. The Niagara district was at fever heat. +Mackenzie had sown his Patriot literature broadcast, +and what with real and imaginary wrongs the +majority of the community sentiment seemed ripe for +rebellion.</p> + +<p>It is easy enough now, as one reads the story of that +uprising, to see that the rebels never had a ghost of a +chance. The grip of the Government never was in +real danger of being thrown off in the upper province; +but a very little rebellion looks great in the eyes of +the rebel who hazards his neck thereby; and it is no +wonder that Robert Marsh came to the conclusion that +the colonial government of Canada was about to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +overthrown, or that he decided to cast in his lot with +those who should win glory in the cause of freedom. +As an American citizen he had a right to do this. +History was full of high precedents. Did not Byron +espouse the cause of the Greeks? Did not Lafayette +make his name immortal in the ranks of American +rebels? One part of America had lately thrown off +the hated yoke of Great Britain; why should not +another part? So our cracker peddler reasoned; and +reasoning thus, began the train of adventures for the +narration of which I draw in brief upon his own obscure +narrative. It is a story that leads us over some +strange old trails, and its value lies chiefly in the fact +that it illustrates, by means of a personal experience, a +well-defined period in the history of the Niagara +region. Robert Marsh is hardly an ideal hero, but +he is a fair type of a class who contrived greatly to +delude themselves, and to pay roundly for their +experience. He thought as many others thought; +what he adventured was also adventured by many +other men of spirit; and what he endured before he +got through with it was the unhappy lot of many of +his fellows.</p> + +<p>It was a time of great discontent and discouragement +on both sides of the border. Throughout the +Holland Purchase the difficulties over land titles had +reached a climax, and the sheriff and his deputies enforced +the law at the risk of their lives. This year of +1837 also brought the financial panic which is still a +high-water mark of hard times in our history. Buffalo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +suffered keenly, and it is not strange that such of her +young men as had a drop of adventurous blood in their +veins were ready to turn "Patriot" for the time being; +though as a matter of sober fact it must be recorded +that the enthusiasm of the majority did not blind their +judgment to the hopelessness of the rebellion. On +the Canadian side the case was different. Unlike their +American brethren, many of the residents there felt +that they had not a representative government. It is +not necessary now, nor is it essential to our story, to +rehearse the grievances which the Canadian Patriots +undertook to correct by taking up arms against the +established authority. They are presented with great +elaboration in many histories; they are detailed with +curious ardor in the Declaration of Rights, a document +ostentatiously patterned after the Declaration of +Independence. William Lyon Mackenzie was a long +way from being a Thomas Jefferson; yet he and his +associates undertook a reform which—taking it at +their valuation—was as truly in behalf of liberty as +was the work of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence. +They made the same appeal to justice; +argued from the same point of view for man's inalienable +rights; they were temperate, too, in their demands, +and sought liberty without bloodshed. Yet +while the American patriots were enabled to persist +and win their cause, though after two bitter and exhausting +wars, their Canadian imitators were ignominiously +obliterated in a few weeks. In the one case the +cause of Liberty won her brightest star. In the other,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +there is complete defeat, without a monument save the +derision of posterity.</p> + +<p>It was in November of this year of rebellion 1837 +that Marsh, being at Chippewa, decided to cast in his +lot with the Patriots. "I began to think," he says, +"that I must soon become an actor on one side or the +other." He saw the Government troops patrolling +every inch of the Canadian bank of the Niagara, and +concentrating in the vicinity of Chippewa. "Boats of +every description were brought from different parts; at +the same time they were mustering all their cannon +and mortars intending to drive them [the Patriots] off; +one would think by their talk, that they would not +only kill them all, but with their cannon mow down +all the trees, and what the balls failed in hitting the +trees would fall upon, and thus demolish the whole +Patriot army." Our hero's observations have this peculiar +value: they are on the common level. He heard +the boasts and braggadocio of the common soldier; +the diplomatic or guarded speech of officers and officials +he did not record. He heard all about the plot +to seize the Caroline, and could not believe it at first. +But, he says, "when I beheld the men get in the boats +and shove off and the beacon lights kindled on the +shore, that they might the more safely find the way +back, my eyes were on the stretch, towards where the +ill-fated boat lay." When he saw the party return +and heard them boast of what they had done, he +thought it high time for him to leave the place. +"Judge my feelings," he says, "on beholding this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +boat on fire, perhaps some on board, within two short +miles of the Falls of Niagara, going at the rate of +twelve miles an hour."<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> + +<p>The Caroline was burned on the 29th of December. +On the next day our hero and a friend set out to join +the Patriots. Let me quote in condensed fashion from +his narrative, which is a tolerably graphic contribution +to the history of this famous episode:</p> + +<p>"We succeeded in reaching the river six miles above +Chippewa about 11 o'clock in the evening, after a +tedious and dangerous journey through an extensive +swamp. There is a small settlement in a part of this +swamp which has been called Sodom. There were +many Indians prowling about. We managed to evade +them but with much difficulty. There were sentinels +every few rods along the line." A friendly woman at a +farmhouse let them take a boat. They offered her +$5 for its use, but she declined; "she said she would +not take anything ... as she knew our situation +and felt anxious to do all in her power to help us across +the river; she also told us that her husband had taken +Mackenzie across a few nights previous. 'Leave the +boat in the mouth of the creek,' said she, pointing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +across the river towards Grand Island, ... 'there +is a man there that will fetch it back, you have only +to fasten it, say nothing and go your way.' We were +convinced that we were not the only ones assisted by +this patriotic lady."</p> + +<p>Marsh and his companion, whose surname was +Thomas, launched the boat with much difficulty, and +with muffled oars they rowed across to Grand Island. +"It was about 1 o'clock in the morning and we had to +go eight or nine miles through the woods and no road. +There had been a light fall of snow, and in places +[was] ice that would bear a man, but oftener would +not; once or twice in crossing streams the ice gave +way and we found ourselves nearly to the middle in +water." Our patriot's path, the reader will note, was +hard from the outset, but he kept on, expecting to be +with his friends again in a few days, and little dreaming +of what lay ahead of him. "We at near daylight +succeeded in reaching White Haven, a small village, +where we were hailed by one of our militia sentinels: +'Who comes there?' 'Friends.' 'Advance and give +the countersign.' Of course we advanced, but we +could not give the countersign; a guard was immediately +dispatched with us to headquarters, where we +underwent a strict examination."</p> + +<p>He was sent across to Tonawanda, where he took +the cars for Schlosser. There the blood-stains on the +dock where Durfee had been killed sealed his resolution; +he crossed to Navy Island and presented himself +at the headquarters of William Lyon Mackenzie, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +peppery little Scotchman who was the prime organizer +of the Provisional Government, and of General Van +Rensselaer, commander-in-chief of the Patriot Army. +"The General produced the list and asked me the +length of time I wished to enlist. I was so confident +of success that I unhesitatingly replied, 'Seven years +or during the war.' The General remarked, 'I wish +I had 2,000 such men, we have about 1,000 already,<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> +and I think this Caroline affair will soon swell our force +to 2,000, and then I shall make an attack at some +point where they least expect, ... and as you are +well acquainted there I want you to be by my side.'" +Here was preferment indeed, for Marsh believed that +Van Rensselaer was brave and able; history has a +different verdict; but we must assume that our hero +entered upon the campaign with high hopes and who +knows what visions of glory.</p> + +<p>Now, at the risk of tiresomeness, I venture to dwell +a little longer on this occupancy of Navy Island; I +promise to get over ground faster farther along in the +story. It is assumed that the reader knows the principal +facts of this familiar episode; but in Marsh's journal +I find graphic details of the affair not elsewhere +given, to my knowledge. Let me quote from his +obscure record:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>After my informing the General of their preparations and intention +of attacking the Island, breastworks were hastily thrown up,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +and all necessary arrangements made to give them a warm reception. +There were twenty-five cannon, mostly well mounted, +which could easily be concentrated at any point required; and +manned by men that knew how to handle them. Besides other +preparations, tops of trees and underbrush were thrown over the +bank at different places to prevent them landing. I know there +were various opinions respecting the strength of the Island, but +from close observation, during these days of my enlistment, it is +my candid opinion that if they had attacked the Island, as was +expected, they would mostly or all have found a watery grave. +The tories were fearful of this, for when the attempt was made +men could not be found to hazard their lives in so rash an +attempt....</p> + +<p>It was hoped and much regretted by all on the Island that the +attempt was not made; for if they had done so it would have +thinned their ranks and made it the more easy for us to have entered +Canada at that place. They finally concluded to bring all +their artillery to bear upon us, and thus exterminate all within +their reach. They were accordingly arranged in martial pomp, +opposite the Island, the distance of about three-quarters of a mile. +Now the work of destruction commences; the balls and bombs +fly in all directions. The tops of the trees appear to be a great +eye-sore to them. I suppose they thought by commencing an +attack upon them, their falling would aid materially in the destruction +of lives below.</p></div> + +<p>Robert, the reader will have observed, had a fine +gift of sarcasm. The thundering of artillery was +heard, by times, he says, for twenty and thirty miles +around, for a week, "[the enemy] being obliged to +cease firing at times for her cannons to cool. They +were very lavish with Her Gracious Majesty's powder +and balls." He continues:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I recollect a man standing behind the breastwork where were +four of us sitting as the balls were whistling through the trees.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +"Well," says he, "if this is the way to kill the timber on this +island, it certainly is a very expensive way as well as somewhat +comical; I should think it would be cheaper to come over with +axes, and if they are not in too big a hurry, girdle the trees and +they will die the sooner." I remarked: "They did not know +how to use an axe, but understood girdling in a different way." +An old gentleman from Canada taking the hint quickly responded, +"Yes. Canada can testify to the fact of their having other ways +of girdling besides with the axe, and unless there is a speedy stop +put to it, there will not be a green tree left." There was another +gentleman about to say something of their manner of swindling +in other parts of the world, he had just commenced about Ireland +when I felt a sudden jar at my back, and the other three that set +near me did the same; we rose up and discovered that a cannon +ball had found its way through our breastwork, but was kind +enough to stop after just stirring the dirt at our backs. I had +only moved about an inch of dirt when I picked up a six-pound +ball.</p> + +<p>As it happened, our gun was a six-pounder. We concluded, +as that was the only ball that had as yet been willing to pay us a +visit, we would send it back as quick as it come. We immediately +put it into our gun and wheeled around the corner of the breastwork. +"Hold," said I, "there is Queen Ann's Pocket Piece, as +it is called, it will soon be opposite, and then we'll show them +what we can do." It was not mounted, but swung under the ex +[axle] of a cart, such as are used for drawing saw-logs, with very +large wheels. I had seen it previous to my leaving Chippewa. +I think there was six horses attached to the cart, for it was very +heavy, it being a twenty-four-pounder. I suppose it was their +intention to split the Island in two with it, hoping by so doing it +might loosen at the roots and move off with the current and go +over the falls, and thus accomplish their great work of destruction +at once. As they were opposite, the words "ready, fire," were +given; we had the satisfaction of seeing the horses leave the +battleground with all possible speed. The gun was forsaken in +no time, and in less than five minutes there was scarcely a man to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +be seen. The ball had gone about three feet further to the left +than had been intended; it was intended to lop the wheels, but it +severed the tongue from the ex and the horses took the liberty to +move off as fast as possible.</p> + +<p>We were about to give them another shot, when the officer of +the day came up and told us the orders from headquarters were +not to fire unless it was absolutely necessary, that we must be +saving of our ammunition. I told him that it was their own ball +that we had just sent back. When he saw the execution it had +done he smiled and went on, remarking, "They begin to fire a +little lower." "Yes," said I, "and as that was the first, we +thought we would send it back and let them know we did not +want it, that we had balls of our own."</p></div> + +<p>This incident was the beginning of more active operations. +For the next nine days and nights there was a +great deal of firing, with one killed and three wounded. +The Patriot army held on to its absurd stronghold for +four weeks, causing, as Marsh quaintly puts it, "much +noise and confusion on both sides"; and he at least +was keenly disappointed when it was evacuated, Jan. +12, 1838. The handful of Patriots scattered and +Chippewa composed herself to the repose which, but +for one ripple of disturbance in 1866, continues to the +present day.</p> + +<p>Up to the end of this abortive campaign Robert +Marsh's chief misadventure had been to cut himself off, +practically, from a safe return to the community where +his best interests lay. But he had a stout heart if a +perverse head. "I was born of Patriot parentage," +he boasted; "I am not a Patriot today and tomorrow +the reverse"; and being fairly identified with the +rebels, he determined to woo the fortunes of war wher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>ever +opportunity offered. His ardor must have been +considerable, for he made his way in the dead of winter +from Buffalo to Detroit; just how I do not know; +but he speaks of arriving at Sandusky "after a tedious +walk of five days." Here he joined a party for an +attack on Malden, but the Patriots were themselves +attacked by some 300 Canadian troops who came across +the lake in sleighs; there was a lively fight on the ice, +with some loss of life, when each party was glad to +retire. Next he tried it with a band of rebels on +Fighting Island, below Detroit; treachery and "the +power of British gold" seem to have kept Canada from +falling into their hands; and presently, "being sick of +island fighting," as he puts it, he made his way to +Detroit, where, all through that troubled summer of +'38, he appears to have been one of the most active +and ardent of the plotters. Certain it is that he was +promptly to the front for the battle of Windsor, and +was with the invaders on Dec. 4, 1838, when a band +of 164 misguided men crossed the Detroit River to take +Canada. He was "Lieutenant" Marsh on this expedition, +but it was the emptiest of honors. At four in the +morning they attacked the barracks on the river banks +above Windsor, and, as often happens with the most +fatuous enterprises, met at the outset with success. +They burned the barracks and took thirty-eight prisoners +(whom they could not hold), looking meanwhile +across the river for help which never came. "We +were about planting our standard," wrote Marsh afterward; +"the flag was a splendid one, with two stars for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +Upper and Lower Canada. We had just succeeded in +getting a long spar and was in the act of raising it, as +the cry was heard,—'There comes the Red-coats! +There are the dragoons!'" Our Patriot, it will be observed, +made no nice distinctions between British and +Canadian troops; that distinction will not fail to be +made for him, in a province which has always claimed +the honor—to which it is fully entitled—of putting +down this troublesome uprising without having to call +for help upon the British regulars. But the invaders +did not raise nice points then. They hastily formed +and withstood the attack for a little; but it was a hopeless +stand, for numbers and discipline were all on the +other side. According to Marsh, the regulars numbered +600. There was sharp firing, eleven Patriots and +forty-four Canadians were killed; and seeing this, and +learning, later than his friends across the river, that +discretion is the better part of valor, he did the only +thing that remained to do—he took to the woods.</p> + +<p>The woods were full just then of discreet Patriots, +and several of them held a breathless council of war. +Here is Marsh's account of it:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It was finally concluded for every man to do the best he could +for himself. We accordingly separated and I found myself pursued +by a man hollowing at the top of his voice, "Stop there, +stop, you damned rebel, or I'll shoot you! stop, stop!" I was +near a fence at that time crossing a field. I proceeded to the +fence, dropped on one knee, put my rifle through the fence, took +deliberate aim. He had a gun and was gaining on me. I had a +cannister of powder, pouch of balls, two pistols and an overcoat +on, which prevented me from attempting to run. I saw all hopes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +of escape was useless; I discharged my rifle, but cannot say +whether it hit the mark or not, for I did not look, but immediately +rose and walked off. At any rate I heard no more "Stop there, +you damned rebel."</p></div> + +<p>Marsh's narrative is too diffuse, not to mention +other faults, for me to follow it <i>verbatim et (il-)literatim</i>. +I give the events of the next few days as simply as possible. +After he fired his gun through the fence at the +red-coat who followed no more—his last shot, be it +remarked, for the relief of Canada—he found that he +was very tired. It was late in the day of the battle and +he had eaten nothing for nearly forty-eight hours. +Pushing on through the woods he came to a barn, but +had scarcely entered when it was surrounded by ten or +twelve "dragoons," as he calls them. He scrambled +up a ladder to the hay-mow, dug a hole in the hay, +crawled in and smoothed it over himself, and, he says, +"had just got a pistol in each hand as the door flew +open; in they rushed, crying, 'Come out, you damned +rebel, we'll shoot you, we'll not take you before the +Colonel to be shot, come out, come out, we'll hang +you.' Said another, 'We'll quarter you and feed you +to the hogs as we've just served one!' They thrust +their swords into the hay, and threatened to burn the +barn; but as it belonged to one of their sort, they +thought better of it and went off. They soon came +back, and saying they would place a sentry, disappeared +again." Marsh tore up certain papers which he feared +would be troublesome if found on him and then slept. +It was dark when he awoke. He crept out of the barn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +and wandered through the woods until daylight, narrowly +escaping some Indians. He applied at the +house of a French settler for something to eat; frankly +admitting, what it obviously was folly to deny, that +he was a fugitive. Three "large bony Frenchmen" +came to the door, made him their prisoner and marched +him off through the woods to Sandwich, where he was +stripped of his valuables and locked up with several +others, his captors cheerfully assuring them that they +would have a fine shooting-match tomorrow. Marsh +stoutly maintained that, as he owed the Queen no +allegiance, he was not a rebel; but his protests did him +no good. He was not shot on the morrow, although +others of the captives were summarily executed, without +a pretext of trial or even a chance to say their prayers.</p> + +<p>And now begins an imprisonment of ten months full +of such distress and atrocity that I should not please, +however much I might edify, by its recital. We read +today of the horrors of Spanish and Turkish massacres +or of Siberian prisons, and every page of history has +its record of inhumanity—its Black Hole, its Dartmoor, +its Andersonville. In this dishonor roll of +official outrages surely may be included the backwoods +prisons of Upper Canada in 1838 and '39. Our misadventurer +was shifted from one to another. At Fort +Malden, on the shore of Lake Erie, he was kept for +seven weeks in a small room with twenty-eight other +men. It was the dead of winter, but they had no +warmth save from their emaciated and vermin-infested +bodies. They were ironed two and two, day and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +night. They were so crowded that there was not floor-room +for all to sleep at once. According to Marsh, +who afterwards wrote a minute record of this imprisonment, +their feeding and care would have been fatal to +a herd of hogs. The acme of the miseries of the prison +at Fort Malden I cannot even hint at with propriety. +When transferred from Sandwich to Malden, and later +from Malden to London, Marsh, like many of his fellow +sufferers, had his feet frozen; and when his limbs +swelled so that life itself was threatened, it was not the +surgeon but a clumsy blacksmith who cut off the irons +and supplied new ones.</p> + +<p>In London the treatment of Malden was repeated. +Here the trials began. The gallows was erected close +to the jail wall; day by day the doomed ones walked +out of a door in the second story to the death platform; +and day by day Marsh and the other wretches in the +cells heard the drop as it swung, in falling, against the +jail wall. Marsh lived in hourly expectation of the +summons, but before his turn came there was a stay in +the work which had been going on under the warrants +signed by Sir George Arthur—as great a tyrant, probably, +as ever held power on the American continent. +A far more philosophic writer than Robert Marsh has +called him the Robespierre of Canada. Whatever +may be held as to the illegality of the trials which sent +some twenty-five men to the gallows at this time, certain +it is that the hangings stopped before our hero's +neck was stretched. Fate still had her quiver full of +evil days for him; and fortune, like a gleam of sun<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +between clouds, moved him on to the prison at Toronto, +where his mother came to see him.</p> + +<p>It was in the early spring of 1839 that he was transferred +to Toronto. In June following, with a boatload +of companions, he was shipped down to Fort +Henry at Kingston. Here, for three months, he was +deluded with the constant expectation of release; but +he must have had some foreshadowings of his fate +when, after three months of wretched existence at Fort +Henry, he was again sent on, down the river to Quebec; +and there, on September 28, 1839, he and 137 companions +in irons were put aboard the British prison-ship +Buffalo, commanded by Capt. Wood. They were +stowed on the third deck, below the water line; 140 +sailors were placed over them; and the Buffalo took +her course down the widening gulf. The dismal +departure was lightened by a touch of human nature. +There were several of the convicts who, like Marsh, +claimed American citizenship, and American blood +will show itself.<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> As the prisoners were marched down +with clanking chains from Fort Henry for the shipment +to Quebec, many of them thought that it was their +last shift before release. "There were three or four<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +very good singers amongst us," says Marsh, "which +made the fort ring with the 'American Star,' 'Hunters +of Kentucky' and other similar songs, which caused +many to flock to our windows. Some of them remarked, +'You will not feel like singing in Botany +Bay.' 'Give us "Botany Bay,"' said one, and it was +done in good style."</p> + +<p>If the reader will permit the digression, it may +afford a little entertainment to consider for a moment +these old songs. The literature of every war includes +its patriotic songs—seldom the work of great poets, +and most popular when they appeal to the quick sympathies +and sense of humor of the common people. +Every people has such songs, sometimes cherished and +sung for generations. England has them without +number, Canada has hers, the United States has hers; +and among the most popular for many years, strange as +it now may seem, were "The American Star" and +"The Hunters of Kentucky," which were sung by +these none-too-worthy representatives of the United +States, through Canadian prison bars, this autumn +morning sixty years ago. Both songs had their origin, +I believe, at the time of the War of 1812. That such +barren and bombastic lines as "The American Star" +should have remained popular a quarter of a century +seems incredible, and appears to indicate that the youth +of the country were very hard up for patriotic songs +worth singing. Here follows "The American Star":</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Come, strike the bold anthem, the war dogs are howling,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Already they eagerly snuff up their prey,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">The red clouds of war o'er our forests are scowling,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Soft peace spreads her wings and flies weeping away;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The infants, affrighted, cling close to their mothers,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The youths grasp their swords, for the combat prepare,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While beauty weeps fathers, and lovers and brothers,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Who rush to display the American Star.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Come blow the shrill bugle, the loud drum awaken,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The dread rifle seize, let the cannon deep roar;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No heart with pale fear, or faint doubtings be shaken,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">No slave's hostile foot leave a print on our shore.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shall mothers, wives, daughters and sisters left weeping,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Insulted by ruffians, be dragged to despair!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh no! from her hills the proud eagle comes sweeping<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And waves to the brave the American Star.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The spirits of Washington, Warren, Montgomery,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Look down from the clouds with bright aspect serene;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Come, soldiers, a tear and a toast to their memory,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Rejoicing they'll see us as they once have been.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To us the high boon by the gods has been granted,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To speed the glad tidings of liberty far;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let millions invade us, we'll meet them undaunted,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And vanquish them by the American Star.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Your hands, then, dear comrades, round Liberty's altar,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">United we swear by the souls of the brave<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Not one from the strong resolution shall falter,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To live independent, or sink to the grave!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then, freemen, fill up—Lo, the striped banner's flying,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The high bird of liberty screams through the air;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beneath her oppression and tyranny dying—<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Success to the beaming American Star.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Every one of its turgid and wordy lines bespeaks the +struggling infancy of a National literature. "The +Hunters of Kentucky" is a little better, because it has +humor—though of the primitive backwoods type—in it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +If the reader has not heard it lately, perhaps he can +stand a little of it. It was inspired by the battle of +New Orleans:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Ye gentlemen and ladies fair,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Who grace this famous city,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Just listen, if you've time to spare,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">While I rehearse a ditty;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And for the opportunity<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Conceive yourselves quite lucky,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For 'tis not often that you see<br /></span> +<span class="i1">A hunter from Kentucky;<br /></span> +<span class="i2">O! Kentucky,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The hunters of Kentucky.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">We are a hardy free-born race,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Each man to fear a stranger;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whate'er the game, we join in chase,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Despising toil and danger;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And if a daring foe annoys,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Whate'er his strength or force is,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We'll show him that Kentucky boys<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Are alligators,—horses:<br /></span> +<span class="i3">O! Kentucky, etc.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I s'pose you've read it in the prints,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">How Packenham attempted<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To make Old Hickory Jackson wince,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">But soon his schemes repented;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For we, with rifles ready cock'd,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Thought such occasion lucky,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And soon around the general flock'd<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The hunters of Kentucky:<br /></span> +<span class="i3">O! Kentucky, etc.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I s'pose you've heard how New Orleans<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Is famed for wealth and beauty;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">There's gals of every hue, it seems,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">From snowy white to sooty:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So, Packenham he made his brags<br /></span> +<span class="i1">If he in fight was lucky,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He'd have their gals and cotton bags,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">In spite of Old Kentucky:<br /></span> +<span class="i3">O! Kentucky, etc.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But Jackson he was wide awake,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And wasn't scared at trifles,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For well he knew what aim we take<br /></span> +<span class="i1">With our Kentucky rifles;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">So, he led us down to Cypress Swamp,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The ground was low and mucky;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There stood John Bull in martial pomp—<br /></span> +<span class="i1">But here was Old Kentucky:<br /></span> +<span class="i3">O! Kentucky, etc.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">We raised a bank to hide our breasts,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Not that we thought of dying,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But then we always like to rest,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Unless the game is flying;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Behind it stood our little force—<br /></span> +<span class="i1">None wish'd it to be greater,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For every man was half a horse<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And half an alligator:<br /></span> +<span class="i3">O! Kentucky, etc.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">They didn't let our patience tire<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Before they show'd their faces;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We didn't choose to waste our fire,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">But snugly kept our places;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And when so near we saw them wink,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">We thought it time to stop 'em,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It would have done you good, I think,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To see Kentuckians drop 'em:<br /></span> +<span class="i3">O! Kentucky, etc.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">They found, at length, 'twas vain to fight,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i1">When lead was all their booty,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And so, they wisely took to flight,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And left us all the beauty.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And now, if danger e'er annoys,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Remember what our trade is;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Just send for us Kentucky boys,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And we'll protect you, ladies:<br /></span> +<span class="i3">O! Kentucky, etc.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>At least it has a gallant ending, which was not altogether +apposite to the situation of Marsh and his fellow-prisoners +at Kingston. "Botany Bay" was more in +their line just then; but, at any rate, it was just as +philosophic to go into exile singing as mourning or +cursing.</p> + +<p>Were I a Herman Melville or a Clark Russell I +should be tempted to dwell on this dreary voyage of +the prison-ship Buffalo. Even Marsh's humble chronicle +of it is graphic with unstudied incidents. They +ran into rough weather at once; so that to the wretchedness +of their imprisonment was added the misery of +seasickness. No one had told them of their destination, +and many of them, like Marsh, stoutly maintained +from first to last that they were transported without a +sentence. Their daily life in this dark and crowded +'tween-decks, practically the hold of a staggering old +sailer, could not be detailed without offense; and if it +could be, I have no desire to heap up the horrors. In +mid-voyage there was an attempted mutiny; the convicts +tried to seize the ship; but the only result was +heavier irons, closer confinement, and a stricter guard.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +After two months of the stormy Atlantic the Buffalo +put into Rio Janeiro, where she lay three tantalizing +days. "It happened to be the Emperor's birthday," +says Marsh, "and although we were not allowed to go +on shore, we could discover through a skylight the flags +on the pinnacles of houses and hills apparently reaching +to the clouds." A little fruit was had aboard to +allay the scurvy which was making havoc, and the +Buffalo lumbered away again and ran straight into a +savage gale, in which she sprung a bad leak. She was +an old ship, and had formerly been a man-of-war, but +for some years now had been employed as a convict +transport between England and New South Wales. +From Rio around the Cape of Good Hope the log kept +by Robert Marsh is a story of sickness and death. +Those who had had their limbs frozen in Canada now +found the skin and flesh coming away and the sea +water on their bare feet gave them excruciating agony. +The shotted sack slid into the shark-patrolled waters of +the Indian Ocean, and the wretches who still lived were +envious of the dead. And on the 13th of February, +1840, four months and a half from Quebec, the Buffalo +anchored in Hobart Town harbor, Van Dieman's Land.</p> + +<p>And now a word about this antipodean land on +which our unlucky hero looked out from the prison-ship. +We are wont to regard it, perhaps, as a new +and well-nigh unknown part of the world; possibly +some of us would have to think twice if asked off-hand, +Where is Van Dieman's Land? Of course we +remember, when we glance at the map, that it is a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +good-sized island just south of Australia. From extreme +north to extreme south it is about as far as from +Buffalo to Philadelphia, and east and west not quite +so far as from Buffalo to Albany. And here is a +coincidence: Hobart Town, in the harbor of which +the prison-ship Buffalo dropped anchor with her load of +misery, is exactly as far south of the equator as Buffalo +is north of it. Other parallel data may perhaps be +helpful: It was in 1642 that the navigator Tasman +discovered the island, naming it after his Dutch patron, +Van Dieman. The explorer's name has now been +substituted, as it should be, and Tasmania, not Van +Dieman's Land, appears on modern maps. The history +of that land dates from 1642. It was in 1641 that +those adventurous missioners, Brébeuf and Chaumonot, +first carried their portable altar across the Niagara; and +from the Relations of their order for that year the +world gained the first actual glimpse of the Niagara +region. In the world's annals, therefore, this far-away +island and our own Niagara and lake region are of the +same age. One other parallel may be ventured. The +first permanent settlement in Van Dieman's Land was +made in 1803. In 1804 Buffalo had fifteen actual +settlers and a few squatters. But here our parallels +end, for when, on that February morning of 1840, the +unhappy Marsh was put ashore, he found a community +unlike any that has ever existed in this happier part +of the world. For over thirty years England had been +sending thither her worst criminals. Shipload after +shipload, year after year, of the most depraved and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +vicious of mankind, had been sent out. England had +made of it and of Botany Bay a dumping-ground for +whatever manner of evil men and women she could +scrape from her London slums. There was some free +colonization, but it went on slowly. Honest men +hesitated to go where society was so handicapped. +The treatment of the convicts varied according to the +Governors, but for years before Marsh arrived it seems +to have been as harsh and brutalizing as imperiousness +and cruelty could devise. In 1836 Sir John Franklin +was sent out to the station. He was an exceptionally +humane and generous man, according to most accounts. +Marsh does not complain of any severity from him, +but calls him an old granny, a glutton and a temporizer +in his promises to convicts. It is something foreign to +our purpose to dwell upon this point, nor is it a +gracious thing to seek any imputation against a character +which history delights to hold as the embodiment +of the gallant and heroic. We must remember that +Robert Marsh's point of view was not likely to bring +him to favorable estimates of those in authority +over him and through whom his very real oppression +came. Years after, when the great explorer's bones +lay whitening in the unknown North, this far-away colony +raised to his memory a noble bronze statue, which +stands to-day in Franklin Square, Hobart, not far from +the old Government House, the scene of his uncongenial +administration.</p> + +<p>And now behold our hero marched ashore with his +fellows; reeling like a drunken man, the strange effect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +of firm earth under foot after months of heaving seaway; +examined, ticketed and numbered, clad in Her +Majesty's livery, and sent to a near-by country station, +where he is put to work under savage overseers at carrying +stone for road-building; and thus began five +years of unmitigated suffering for Robert Marsh in that +detestable land. There were about 43,000 convicts on +the island at the time, 25,000 of whom were driven to +daily work in chain gangs, on the roads, in the wet +mines or the forest. The rest were ex-convicts; had +served their sentences and counted themselves among +the free population, which all told did not then exceed +60,000. Conceive of a free community, nearly one half +of whom, men and women, were former convicts, but +not regenerate. For years the brothels of London, +Glasgow, Edinburgh, were emptied into Van Dieman's +Land. A reputable writer has said that at this time +female virtue was unknown in the island. The wealthy +land-owners, under government patronage, were autocrats +in their own domain. The whipping-post, the +triangle—a refinement of cruelty—and the gallows +were familiar sights. The slightest failure at his daily +task sent the convict to the whipping-post or to solitary +confinement.</p> + +<p>Official iniquity flourished under Sir George Arthur's +reign of eleven years. He was Franklin's predecessor, +and his minions were still in control when Marsh came +under their power. He was shifted from station to +station; fed like a dog, lodged in the meanest huts +and worked well nigh to death. The worst characters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +were his overseers, and the day began with the lash. +A convict's strength would give out under his load; +he would lag behind, or stop to rest. At once he +would be taken to the station, stripped to the waist—if +he chanced to have anything on—strung up to the +post or triangle, and flogged. As an additional measure +of reform, brine was thrown into the gashes which +the lash had made. These were the milder forms of +daily punishment. Sir George Arthur's prouder record +comes from the executions. Travelers to-day tell us that +Tasmania is really a second England; in its settled +portions it is a land of pleasant vales and gentle rivers, +rich in harvests of the temperate zone. "Appleland," +some have called it, from its fruitful orchards; but no +tree transplanted from Merrie England ever flourished +more than the black stock from Tyburn Hill. Sir +George hanged 1,500 during his stay. Marsh tells of +a compassionate clergyman who was watching with interest +the erection of a gallows. "Yes," he said, "I +suppose it will do, but it is not as large as we need. I +think ten will hang comfortable, but twelve will be +rather crowded."</p> + +<p>It is small wonder that our hero tried to escape. He +took to the bush—which means the unexplored and +inhospitable forest—with a band of friends; was captured, +punished, and thereafter dressed in magpie—trousers +and frock one half black, one half yellow; and +in this garb, which advertised to all that he had been a +bush-ranger, he worked on until the spring of 1842, +when Sir John Franklin made him a ticket-of-leave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +man. This relieved him from the overseers, and gave +him permission to work, for whatever wages he could +get, in an assigned district.</p> + +<p>And now again, of this new phase of his misadventures, +a long story could be made. At that time +the best circumstanced ticket-of-leave men got about +a shilling a day and boarded themselves. But there +was little work and many seekers. They roamed over +the country, turned away from plantation after plantation, +and in many cases became the boldest of outlaws. +Escape from the island was well nigh impossible; but +after many hardships, utterly unable to get honest +work, Marsh was one of a party that determined to try +it. Making their way eighty miles to the seashore, +they hid in the woods, where for a week or so they +gathered firewood, buried potatoes and snared kangaroo. +One of their number reached a settlement and returned +with the word that an American whaler was coming to +take them off. After six days more of waiting the +vessel hove in sight. As she tried to draw near and +send boats ashore a storm came up and she narrowly +escaped the breakers. At this critical moment a British +armed patrol schooner rounded a point down the coast +and the American made her escape with great difficulty, +leaving the score of runaway convicts at their precarious +lookout, hopeless and despondent.</p> + +<p>They were soon arrested, Marsh among them. He +was tried for breaking his patrol, and sent to an inland +district, 100 miles through the bush and swamps. "It +was all punishment," he says pathetically, in describ<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>ing +this journey on which he nearly perished. So +down-hearted and distressed were they, so appalled +by the war of nature and man against them, that one +of Marsh's companions, with fagged-out brain, came +to the conclusion that they were really in hell and that +the devil himself was in charge of them. But there is +always a turn to the tide. They trapped a kangaroo +and did not starve. Marsh reached his district and +this time found work, which had to be light, for he +was weak, emaciated and troubled day and night with +a pain in his chest. And finally the glad word came +that he was gazetted for pardon and could go to +Hobart. There, on January 27, 1845, after ten +months in Canada prisons, four and a half months in a +transport ship, and five years in a convict colony, he +went on board the American whaler Steiglitz of Sag +Harbor, Selah Young, master, a free man.</p> + +<p>The Steiglitz was bound out on a whaling voyage. +No matter, she would take Marsh away from that hell. +She cruised for whale off New Zealand, then made +north, and in April anchored off Honolulu. King +Hamehameha III., on hearing the story of the convict +Americans, welcomed them ashore, and there +Marsh stayed for four months, exploring the islands +and waiting for a chance to get home. At last it came +in the welcome shape of the whaler Samuel Robertson, +Capt. Warner, bound for New Bedford. She touched at +the Society Islands and Pernambuco, and on March 13, +1846, after seven years four and a half months absence, +Marsh stepped ashore in his own country again. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +people of New Bedford helped him and a few others as +far as Utica. There one of his comrades in exile left +him for his home in Watertown, and others went their +several ways. Marsh was helped as far as Canandaigua, +where his brother met him and took him to his home +in Avon; and after a time of recuperation there, they +came on to Buffalo, where he met his father, his +mother and sister. He soon crossed the river, visited +Toronto, and probably looked over the scenes of his +early cracker-peddling and subsequent campaigning, up +and down the Niagara. He had traveled 77,000 miles, +but here his journey ended; and here the Patriot exile +told his story, which I have drawn on in an imperfect +way, for this true chronicle of old trails.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<h1>Underground Trails.</h1> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> +<h2>UNDERGROUND TRAILS.</h2> + + +<p>It was Dame Nature who decreed that the Niagara +region should be peculiarly a place of trails. +When she set the great cataract midway between +two lakes, she thereby ordained that in days to come +the Indian should go around the falls, on foot. The +Indian trail was a footpath; nothing more. Here it +followed the margin of a stream; there, well nigh +indiscernable, it crossed a rocky plateau; again, worn +deep in yielding loam, it led through thick woods, +twisting and turning around trees and boulders, with +detours for swamps or bad ground, and long stretches +along favorable slopes or sightly ridges. Who can +hazard a guess as to the time when, or by what manner +of men, these trails were first established in our region? +Immemorial in their source—akin in natural origins +to the path the deer makes in going to the salt-lick or +to drink—they were old, established, when our history +begins. And when the white man came he followed +the old trails. Traveling like the Indian, by water when +he could; when lakes and rivers did not serve, he found +the footpaths ready made for him in the forest. Armies +came, cutting military roads. Settlers followed +to banish forests, drain swamps, and make new highways. +And yet the horseman, the military train, the +wagon of the pioneer, the early stage-coach, the rail<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>road, +each in its day, along many of the most direct +and important thoroughfares, has but followed the +ancient ways. The thing is axiomatic. Nature for +the most part decrees where men shall walk. Her +lakes and rivers and her hills may be strewn by whim; +but there are plain reasons enough for our road-building. +We go where we can, with safety and expedition. +So ran the red man. We still follow the old trails.</p> + +<p>Other aspects of our frontier are worthy of a +thought. Two nations look across the Niagara, so +that, even though its flow were placid from lake to +lake, it would still be a political barrier, a halting-place. +This fact has filled it full of trails in history. +Again, as the gateway of the West, the paths of immigration +and of commerce for a century have here converged. +The early settlers of Michigan and Wisconsin +went by the old Lewiston ferry. From Buffalo by +boat, and from old Suspension Bridge by rail, who +can estimate the thousands who have gone on to create +the New West? From the earliest Iroquois raid upon +the Neuters, down to yesterday's excursion, the Niagara +frontier has been peculiarly a region of passing, +of coming and going, along old trails.</p> + +<p>Now of all the paths that have led hitherward, none +has greater significance in American history than that +known as the Underground Railroad. Other paths, +touching here, have led to war, to wealth, to pleasure; +but this led to Liberty. Thousands of negro slaves, gaining +after infinite hardships these shores of the lake or +river, have looked across the smiling expanse to such an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +elysium as only a slave can dream of. Once the passage +made, no matter how poor the passenger, freedom +became his possession and the heritage of his children. +The chattel became a man. I can never sail upon the +blue lake, or down the pleasant river, without seeing +in fancy this throng of famished, frightened, blindly +hopeful blacks, for whom these waters were the gateway +to new life. The most vital part of the Underground +Railroad was the over-water ferry. Bark canoe and +great steamer alike leave no lasting trail; but to him +who reads the history of our region, this fair waterway +at our door is thronged as a street; and every secret +traveler thereby is worthy of his attention. Much has +been recorded of these refugees, who came, singly or +in small parties, for more than thirty years preceding +the Civil War. Indeed, runaway slaves passed this way +to Canada soon after the War of 1812. The tales of +soldiers returning to Kentucky from the Niagara frontier +and other campaigns of that war, first planted in +the minds of Southern slaves the idea that Canada was +a land of freedom. By 1830 many earnest people who +disapproved of slavery, the Quakers prominent among +them, were giving organized aid to the escaping blacks. +In many secret ways the refugees were passed on from +one friend to another. Hiding-places were established, +and routes which were found advantageous were regularly +followed.</p> + +<p>It is no part of my present plan to enter upon a +general sketch of the Underground Railroad. That +task has already been admirably performed, at volumi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>nous +length, by careful students. My aim in this paper +is to bring together a number of incidents and narratives, +particularly illustrative of its work at the eastern +end of Lake Erie and along the Niagara frontier, in +order that the student may the better appreciate how +vital this phase of the slavery issue was, even in this +region, for more than a generation preceding the +Civil War. There were established routes for the passage +of fugitive slaves: From the seaboard States to the +North, by water from Newberne, S. C, and Portsmouth, +Va.; or by land routes from Washington and Philadelphia, +to and through New England and so into Quebec. +There was "John Brown's route" through Eastern +Kansas and Nebraska; and there were many routes +through Iowa and Illinois, most of them leading to +Chicago and other Lake Michigan ports, whence the +refugees came by boat to Canadian points, chiefly +along the north shore of Lake Erie; or even, in some +cases, by water to Collingwood on Georgian Bay, where +a considerable number of runaway slaves were carried +prior to the Civil War. But the travel by these extreme +East and West routes was insignificant as compared +with the number that came through Western Pennsylvania, +Ohio and Indiana, to points on the south shore +of Lake Erie and the Detroit and Niagara rivers at +either end. The region bounded by the Ohio, the +Allegheny, and the western border of Indiana was a +vast plexus of Underground routes. The negroes were +taken across to Canada in great numbers from Detroit +and other points on that river; from Sandusky to Point<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +Pelee; from Ashtabula to Port Stanley; from Conneaut +to Port Burwell; from Erie to Long Point; and from +all south-shore points on Lake Erie they were brought +by steamer to Buffalo. Often, the vessel captains would +put the refugees ashore between Long Point and +Buffalo. At other times, the fugitives were sent to +stations at Black Rock or Niagara Falls, whence they +were soon set across the river and were free. There +were some long routes across New York State, the chief +one being up the Hudson and Mohawk valleys to Lake +Ontario ports. There was some crossing to Kingston, +and some from Rochester to Port Dalhousie or +Toronto. Another route led from Harrisburg up the +Susquehanna to Williamsport, thence to Elmira, and +northwesterly, avoiding large towns, to Niagara Falls. +But the most active part in the Underground Railroad +operations in New York State was borne by the western +counties. There were numerous routes through +Allegany, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, along +which the negroes were helped; all converging at +Buffalo or on the Niagara. In the old towns of this +section are still many houses and other buildings which +are pointed out to the visitor as having been former +stations on the Underground. The Pettit house at +Fredonia is a distinguished example.</p> + +<p>It is impossible to state even approximately the number +of refugee negroes who crossed by these routes to +Upper Canada, now Ontario. In 1844 the number +was estimated at 40,000;<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> in 1852 the Anti-Slavery<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +Society of Canada stated in its annual report that there +were about 30,000 blacks in Canada West; in 1858 the +number was estimated as high as 75,000.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> This figure is +probably excessive; but since the negroes continued to +come, up to the hour of the Emancipation Proclamation, +it is probably within the fact to say that more +than 50,000 crossed to Upper Canada, nearly all from +points on Lake Erie, the Detroit and Niagara rivers.</p> + +<p>Runaway slaves appeared in Buffalo at least as early +as the '30's. "Professor Edward Orton recalls that in +1838, soon after his father moved to Buffalo, two +sleigh-loads of negroes from the Western Reserve were +brought to the house in the night-time; and Mr. +Frederick Nicholson of Warsaw, N. Y., states that the +Underground work in his vicinity began in 1840. From +this time on there was apparently no cessation of migrations +of fugitives into Canada at Black Rock, Buffalo +and other points."<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> Those too were the days of much +passenger travel on Lake Erie, and certain boats came +to be known as friendly to the Underground cause. +One boat which ran between Cleveland and Buffalo +gave employment to the fugitive William Wells Brown. +It became known at Cleveland that Brown would take +escaped slaves under his protection without charge, +hence he rarely failed to find a little company ready to +sail when he started out from Cleveland. "In the +year 1842," he says, "I conveyed from the 1st of +May to the 1st of December, sixty-nine fugitives over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +Lake Erie to Canada."<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> Many anecdotes are told of +the search for runaways on the lake steamers. Lake +travel in the <i>ante-bellum</i> days was ever liable to be +enlivened by an exciting episode in a "nigger-chase"; +but usually, it would seem, the negroes could rely upon +the friendliness of the captains for concealment or +other assistance.</p> + +<p>There are chronicled, too, many little histories of +flights which brought the fugitive to Buffalo. I pass +over those which are readily accessible elsewhere to +the student of this phase of our home history.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> It is +well, however, to devote a paragraph or two to one +famous affair which most if not all American writers on +the Underground Railroad appear to have overlooked.</p> + +<p>One day in 1836 an intelligent negro, riding a +thoroughbred but jaded horse, appeared on the streets +of Buffalo. His appearance must have advertised him +to all as a runaway slave. I do not know that he made +any attempt to conceal the fact. His chief concern +was to sell the horse as quickly as possible, and get +across to Canada. And there, presently, we find him, +settled at historic old Niagara, near the mouth of the +river. Here, even at that date, so many negroes had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +made their way from the South, that more than 400 +occupied a quarter known as Negro Town. The newcomer, +whose name was Moseby, admitted that he had +run away from a plantation in Kentucky, and had used +a horse that formerly belonged to his master to make +his way North. A Kentucky grand jury soon found a +true bill against him for horse-stealing, and civil officers +traced him to Niagara, and made requisition for his +arrest and extradition. The year before, Sir Francis +Bond Head had succeeded Sir John Colborne as Governor +of Canada West, and before him the case was laid. +Sir Francis regarded the charge as lawful, notwithstanding +the avowal of Moseby's owners that if they +could get him back to Kentucky they would "make +an example of him"; in plainer words, would whip +him to death as a warning to all slaves who dared to +dream of seeking freedom in Canada.</p> + +<p>Moseby was arrested and locked up in the Niagara +jail; whereupon great excitement arose, the blacks and +many sympathizing whites declaring that he should +never be carried back South. The Governor, Sir Francis, +was petitioned not to surrender Moseby; he replied +that his duty was to give him up as a felon, "although +he would have armed the province to protect a slave." +For more than a week crowds of negroes, men and +women, camped before the jail, day and night. Under +the leadership of a mulatto schoolmaster named +Holmes, and of Mrs. Carter, a negress with a gift for +making fiery speeches, the mob were kept worked up +to a high pitch of excitement, although, as a contem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>porary +writer avers, they were unarmed, showed "good +sense, forbearance and resolution," and declared their +intention not to commit any violence against the English +law. They even agreed that Moseby should +remain in jail until they could raise the price of the +horse, but threatened, "if any attempt were made to +take him from the prison, and send him across to +Lewiston, they would resist it at the hazard of their +lives." The order, however, came for Moseby's delivery +to the slave-hunters, and the sheriff and a party +of constables attempted to execute it. Moseby was +brought out from the jail, handcuffed and placed in a +cart; whereupon the mob attacked the officers. The +military was called out to help the civil force and +ordered to fire on the assailants. Two negroes were +killed, two or three wounded, and Moseby ran off and +was not pursued. The negro women played a curiously-prominent +part in the affair. "They had been +most active in the fray, throwing themselves fearlessly +between the black men and the whites, who, of course, +shrank from injuring them. One woman had seized +the sheriff, and held him pinioned in her arms; another, +on one of the artillery-men presenting his piece, +and swearing that he would shoot her if she did not +get out of his way, gave him only one glance of unutterable +contempt, and with one hand knocking up +his piece, and collaring him with the other, held him +in such a manner as to prevent his firing."<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> +<p>Soon after, in the same year, the Governor of +Kentucky made requisition on the Governor of the province +of Canada West for the surrender of Jesse Happy, +another runaway slave, also on a charge of horse-stealing. +Sir Francis held him in confinement in Hamilton +jail, but refused to deliver him up until he had laid +the case before the Home Government. In a most +interesting report to the Colonial Secretary, under +date of Toronto, Oct. 8, 1837, he asked for instructions +"as a matter of general policy," and reviewed +the Moseby case in a fair and broad spirit, highly +creditable to him alike as an administrator and a friend +of the oppressed. "I am by no means desirous," he +wrote, "that this province should become an asylum +for the guilty of any color; at the same time the +documents submitted with this dispatch will I conceive +show that the subject of giving up fugitive slaves to the +authorities of the adjoining republican States is one +respecting which it is highly desirable I should receive +from Her Majesty's Government specific instructions.... It +may be argued that the slave escaping +from bondage on his master's horse is a vicious struggle +between two guilty parties, of which the slave-owner +is not only the aggressor, but the blackest criminal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +of the two. It is a case of the dealer in human flesh +<i>versus</i> the stealer of horse-flesh; and it may be argued +that, if the British Government does not feel itself +authorized to pass judgment on the plaintiff, neither +should it on the defendant." Sir Francis continues in +this ingenious strain, observing that "it is as much a +theft in the slave walking from slavery to liberty in +his master's shoes as riding on his master's horse." +To give up a slave for trial to the American laws, he +argued, was in fact giving him back to his former +master; and he held that, until the State authorities +could separate trial from unjust punishment, however +willing the Government of Canada might be to deliver +up a man for trial, it was justified in refusing to deliver +him up for punishment, "unless sufficient security be +entered into in this province, that the person delivered +up for trial shall be brought back to Upper Canada as +soon as his trial or the punishment awarded by it shall +be concluded." And he added this final argument, +begging that instructions should be sent to him at once:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It is argued, that the republican states have no right, under the +pretext of any human treaty, to claim from the British Government, +which does not recognize slavery, beings who by slave-law +are not recognized as <i>men</i> and who actually existed as brute beasts +in moral darkness, until on reaching British soil they suddenly +heard, for the first time in their lives, the sacred words, "Let +there be light; and there was light!" From that moment it is +argued they were created <i>men</i>, and if this be true, it is said they +cannot be held responsible for conduct prior to their existence.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a></p></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p>Sir Francis left the Home Government in no doubt +as to his own feelings in the matter; and although I +have seen no further report regarding Jesse Happy, +neither do I know of any case in which a refugee in +Canada for whom requisition was thus made was permitted +to go back to slavery. It did sometimes happen, +however, that refugees were enticed across the river on +one pretext or another, or grew careless and took their +chances on the American side, only to fall into the +clutches of the ever-watchful slave-hunters.</p> + +<p>British love of fair play could be counted on to stand +up for the rights of the negro on British soil; but that +by no means implies that this inpouring of ignorant +blacks, unfitted for many kinds of pioneer work and +ill able to withstand the climate, was welcomed by the +communities in which they settled. At best, they +were tolerated. Very different from the spirit shown +in Sir Francis Bond Head's plea, is the tone of much +tourist comment, especially during the later years of +the Abolition movement. Thus, in 1854, the Hon. +Amelia M. Murray wrote, just after her Niagara visit:</p> + +<p>"One of the evils consequent upon Southern Slavery, +is the ignorant and miserable set of coloured people +who throw themselves into Canada.... I must +regret that the well-meant enthusiasm of the Abolitionists +has been without judgment."<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> Another particularly +unamiable critic, W. Howard Russell, a much-exploited +English war correspondent who wrote volum<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>inously +of the United States during the Civil War, and +who showed less good will to this country than any +other man who ever wrote so much, came to Niagara in +the winter of 1862, and in sourly recording his unpleasant +impressions wrote: "There are too many free +negroes and too many Irish located in the immediate +neighborhood of the American town, to cause the doctrines +of the Abolitionists to be received with much +favor by the American population; and the Irish of +course are opposed to free negroes, where they are +attracted by paper mills, hotel service, bricklaying, +plastering, housebuilding, and the like—the Americans +monopolizing the higher branches of labor and +money-making, including the guide business."<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> A few +pages farther on, however, describing his sight-seeing +on the Canadian side, he speaks of "our guide, a +strapping specimen of negro or mulatto." Quotations +of like purport from English writers during the years +immediately preceding the Civil War, might be multiplied. +One rarely will find any opinion at all favorable +to the refugee black, and never any expression of sympathy +with the Abolitionists by English tourists who +wrote books, or endorsal of the work accomplished by +the Underground Railroad.</p> + +<p>From its importance as a terminal of the Underground, +one would look to Buffalo for a wealth of +reminiscence on this subject. On the contrary, comparatively +little seems to have been gathered up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +regarding Buffalo stations and workers. The Buffalo +of <i>ante-bellum</i> days was not a large place, and many +"personally-escorted" refugees were taken direct +from country stations to the river ferries, without +having to be hid away in the city. Certain houses +there were, however, which served as stations. One of +these, on Ferry Street near Niagara, long since disappeared. +When the "Morris Butler house," at the +corner of Utica Street and Linwood Avenue, built +about 1857, was taken down a few years ago, hiding-places +were found on either side of the front door, +accessible only from the cellar. Old residents then +recalled that Mr. Butler was reputed to keep the last +station on the Underground route to Canada.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a></p> + +<p>Many years before Mr. Butler's time runaway slaves +used to appear in Buffalo, eagerly asking the way to +Canada. Those days were recalled by the death, on +Aug. 2, 1899, in the Kent County House of Refuge, +Chatham, Ont., of "Mammy" Chadwick, reputed to +be over 100 years old. She was born a slave in +Virginia; was many times sold, once at auction in New +Orleans, and later taken to Kentucky. She escaped +and made her way by the Underground to Buffalo in +1837. She always fixed her arrival at Fort Erie as +"in de year dat de Queen was crowned." She mar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>ried +in Fort Erie, but after a few years went to +Chatham, in the midst of a district full of refugee +blacks, and there she lived for sixty years, rejoicing in the +distinction of having nursed in their infancy many who +became Chatham's oldest and most prominent citizens.</p> + +<p>There still lives at Fort Erie an active old woman +who came to Buffalo, a refugee from slavery, some +time prior to 1837; she herself says, "a good while +before the Canadian Rebellion," and her memory is so +clear and vigorous in general that there appears no +warrant for mistrusting it on this point. This interesting +woman is Mrs. Betsy Robinson, known throughout +the neighborhood as "Aunt Betsy." She lately told +her story to me at length. Robbed of all the picturesque +detail with which she invested it, the bare facts +are here recorded. Her father, mother, and their seven +children were slaves on a plantation in Rockingham +County, Virginia. There came a change of ownership, +and Baker (her father) heard he was to be sold +to New Orleans—the fate which the Virginia slave +most dreaded; "and yet," says Aunt Betsy, "I've seen +dem slaves, in gangs bein' sent off to New Orleans, +singin' and playin' on jewsharps, lettin' on to be that +careless an' happy." But not so Baker. He made +ready to escape. For a week beforehand his wife hid +food in the woods. On a dark night the whole family +stole away from the plantation, crossed a river, probably +the north fork of the Shenandoah, and pushed +northward. The father had procured three "passes," +which commended them for assistance to friends<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +along the way. According to Aunt Betsy, there were +a good many white people in the South in those +days who helped the runaway. She was a little girl +then, and she now recalls the child's vivid impressions +of the weeks they spent traveling and hiding in the +mountains, which she says were full of rattlesnakes, +wolves and deer. It was a wild country that they +crossed, for they came out near Washington, Pa. Here +the Quakers helped them; and her father and brothers +worked in the coal mines for a time. Then they came +on to Pittsburg. From that city north there was no +lack of help. "We walked all the way," she says. +"There was no railroads in them days, an' I don't remember's +we got any wagon-rides. You see, we was so +many, nine in all. I remember we went to Erie, and +came through Fredonia. We walked through Buffalo—it +was little then, you know—and down the river road. +My father missed the Black Rock ferry an' we went +away down where the bridge is now. I remember we +had to walk back up the river, and then we got brought +across to Fort Erie. That was a good while before the +Canadian Rebellion."<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a></p> + +<p>Samuel Murray, a free-born negro, came to Buffalo +from Reading, Pa., in 1852. For a time he was +employed at the American Hotel, and went to work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +very early in the morning. It was, he has said, a +common occurrence to meet strange negroes, who +would ask him the way to Canada. "Many a time," +said Murray, "I have gone into the hotel and taken +food for them. Then I would walk out Niagara Street +to the ferry and see them on the boat bound for Canada." +Mr. Murray has related the following incidents:</p> + +<p>"There was a free black man living in Buffalo in +the '50's who made a business of going to the South +after the wives of former slaves who had found comfortable +homes, either in the Northern States or in +Canada. They paid him well for his work, and he +rarely failed to accomplish his mission.</p> + +<p>"While connected with the Underground Railroad +in Buffalo word was sent us that a colored man from +Detroit, a traitor to his color, was coming to Buffalo. +This man made a business of informing Southerners of +the whereabouts of their slaves, and was paid a good +sum per head for those that they recovered. When we +heard that he was coming a meeting was held and a +committee appointed to arrange for his reception. +After being here a few days, not thinking that he was +known, he was met by the committee and taken out in +the woods where the Parade House now stands. Here +he was tied to a tree, stripped and cow-hided until he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +was almost dead. He lay for a time insensible in a +pool of his own blood. Finally regaining consciousness, +he made his way back into Buffalo and as soon as +he was able complained to the city authorities. His +assailants were identified, arrested, and locked up in +the old jail to await the result of his injuries. After a +time the excitement caused by the affair subsided and +the men were let out one day without having been +tried." The sympathy of the sheriff, and probably that +of the community as a whole, was plainly not with the +renegade who got flogged.</p> + +<p>Another celebrated Underground case was the arrest +at Niagara Falls of a slave named Sneedon, on a charge +of murder, undoubtedly trumped up to procure his +return South. Sneedon is described as a fine-looking +man, with a complexion almost white. He was +brought to trial in Buffalo, when Eli Cook pleaded his +case so successfully that he was acquitted. No sooner +was he released than he was spirited away <i>via</i> the +Underground Railroad.</p> + +<p>Niagara Falls, far more than Buffalo, was the scene +of interesting episodes in the Underground days. Not +only did many refugee negroes find employment in the +vicinity, especially on the Canada side, but many +Southern planters used to visit there, bringing their +retinue of blacks. Many a time the trusted body-servant, +or slave-girl, would leave master or mistress in +the discharge of some errand, and never come back. +Instances are related, too, of sudden meetings, at the +Falls hotels, between negro waiters and the former<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +masters they had run away from. It is recorded that +when Gen. Peter B. Porter brought his Kentucky wife +home with him to Niagara Falls, she was attended by a +numerous retinue of negro servants, but that one by +one they "scented freedom in the air" and ran away, +though probably not to any immediate betterment of +their condition.</p> + +<p>Henry Clay visited Buffalo in September, 1849. +When he left for Cleveland his black servant Levi was +missing, but whether he had gone voluntarily or against +his wishes Mr. Clay was uncertain. "There are circumstances +having a tendency both ways," he wrote to +Lewis L. Hodges of Buffalo, in his effort to trace the +lost property. "If voluntarily, I will take no trouble +about him, as it is probable that in a reversal of our +conditions I would have done the same thing."<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> The +absentee had merely been left in Buffalo—probably he +missed the boat—and reported in due time to his master +at Ashland. The incident, however, suggests the +hazards of Northern travel which in those years awaited +wealthy Southerners, who were fond of making long sojourns +at Niagara Falls, accompanied by many servants.</p> + +<p>An "old resident of Buffalo" is to be credited +with the following reminiscence:</p> + +<p>"I remember one attempt that was made to capture +a runaway slave. It was right up here on Niagara +Street. The negro ventured out in daytime and was +seized by a couple of men who had been on the watch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +for him. The slave was a muscular fellow, and fought +desperately for his liberty; but his captors began beating +him over the head with their whips, and he would +have been overpowered and carried off if his cries had +not attracted the attention of two Abolitionists, who +ran up and joined in the scuffle. It was just above +Ferry Street, and they pulled and hauled at that slave +and pounded him and each other until it looked as +though somebody would be killed. At last, however, +the slave, with the help of his friends, got away and ran +for his life, and the slave-chasers and the Abolitionists +dropped from blows to high words, the former threatening +prosecutions and vengeance, but I presume +nothing came of it."<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> + +<p>Nowhere were the friends of the fugitive more +active or more successful than in the towns along +the south shore of Lake Erie, from Erie to Buffalo.<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> +Some years ago it was my good fortune to become +acquainted with Mr. Frank Henry of Erie, who +had been a very active "conductor" on the Underground.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> +From him I had the facts of the following<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +experiences, which he had not in earlier years thought +it prudent to make public. These I now submit, partly +in Mr. Henry's own language, as fairly-illustrative episodes +in the history of Underground trails at the eastern +end of Lake Erie.</p> + +<p>In the year 1841 Capt. David Porter Dobbins, afterwards +Superintendent of Life Saving Stations in the +Ninth U. S. District, including Lakes Erie and Ontario, +was a citizen of Erie. In politics he was one +of the sturdy, old-time Democrats, not a few of whom, +in marked contrast to their "Copperhead" neighbors, +secretly sympathized with and aided the runaway slaves. +Capt. Dobbins had in his employ a black man named +William Mason, his surname being taken, as was the +usual, but not invariable, custom among slaves, from +that of his first master. Now Mason, some time before +he came into the employ of Capt. Dobbins, had +apparently become tired of getting only the blows and +abuse of an overseer in return for his toil; so one night +he quietly left his "old Kentucky home," determined +to gain his freedom or die in the attempt. In good +time he succeeded in getting to Detroit, then a small +town; and there he found work, took unto himself a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +wife, and essayed to settle down. Instead, however, +of settling, he soon found himself more badly stirred +up than ever before, for his wife proved to be a +veritable she-devil in petticoats, with a tongue keener +than his master's lash. They parted, and the unfaithful +wife informed against him to the slave-hunters. +Mason fled, made his way to Erie, and was given work +by Capt. Dobbins. He was a stalwart negro, intelligent +above the average, altogether too fine a prize to +let slip easily, and the professional slave-hunters lost +no time in hunting him out.</p> + +<p>For many years prior to the Civil War a large class +of men made their living by ferreting out and recapturing +fugitive slaves and returning them to their old +masters; or, as was often the case, selling them into +slavery again. Free black men, peaceful citizens of +the Northern States, were sometimes seized, to be sold +to unscrupulous men who stood ever ready to buy +them. There was but little hope for the negro who +found himself carried south of Mason and Dixon's line +in the clutches of these hard men, who were generally +provided with a minute description of runaways from +the border States, and received a large commission for +capturing and returning them into bondage.</p> + +<p>One day, as Mason was cutting up a quarter of +beef in Capt. Dobbins's house, two men came in, +making plausible excuses. Mason saw they were +watching him closely, and his suspicions were at once +aroused.</p> + +<p>"Is your name William?" one of them asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No," said Mason curtly, pretending to be busy +with his beef.</p> + +<p>Then they told him to take off his shoe and let them +see if there was a scar on his foot. On his refusing to +do so, they produced handcuffs and called on him to +surrender. Livid with desperation and fear, Mason +rushed upon them with his huge butcher-knive, and +the fellows took to their heels to save their heads. +They lost no time in getting a warrant from a magistrate +on some pretext or other, and placed it in the +hands of an officer for execution.</p> + +<p>While the little by-play with the butcher-knife was +going on, Capt. Dobbins had entered the house, and +to him Mason rushed in appeal. Swearing "by de +hosts of heaben" that he would never be captured, he +piteously begged for help and the protection of his employer. +And in Capt. Dobbins he had a friend who +was equal to any emergency. Calling Mason from the +room his employer hurried with him to Josiah Kellogg's +house, then one of the finest places in Erie, with a +commanding view from its high bank over lake and +bay.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> To this house Mason was hurried, and Mrs. +Kellogg comprehended the situation at a glance. The +fugitive was soon so carefully hidden that, to use the +Captain's expression, "The Devil himself couldn't +have found him, sir!"</p> + +<p>Expeditious as they were, they had been none too +quick. Capt. Dobbins had scarcely regained his own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +door, when the two slave-hunters came back with the +sheriff and demanded Mason.</p> + +<p>"Search the premises at your pleasure," was the response.</p> + +<p>The house was ransacked from cellar to garret, but, +needless to say, Mason was not to be found.</p> + +<p>There was living in Erie at that time a big burly +negro, Lemuel Gates by name, whose strength was +only surpassed by his good nature. He was willing +enough to lend himself to the cause of humanity. The +Captain owned a very fast horse, and while the officer +and his disappointed and suspicious companions were +still lurking around, just at nightfall, he harnessed +his horse into the buggy and seated the Hercules by +his side. All this was quietly done in the barn with +closed doors. At a given signal, the servant-girl threw +open the doors, the Captain cracked his whip, and out +they dashed at full speed. He took good care to be +seen and recognized by the spies on watch, and then +laid his course for Hamlin Russell's house at Belle +Valley. Mr. Russell was a noted Abolitionist, and +lived on a cross-road between the Wattsburg and Lake +Pleasant roads. Just beyond Marvintown, at Davison's, +the Lake Pleasant road forks off from the Wattsburg +road to the right. The travelers took the Lake road. +When Mr. Russell's house was reached, the Captain +slipped a half-eagle into the hand of his grinning companion, +with the needless advice that it would be well +to make tracks for home as fast as possible. Mr. Russell +was told of the clever ruse, and then Capt. Dobbins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +drove leisurely homeward. At the junction of the two +roads he met the officer and his comrades in hot pursuit.</p> + +<p>"Where is Mason?" they demanded.</p> + +<p>"Find out," was the Captain's only answer, as he +drove quietly along, chuckling to himself over the success +of his strategy; while the slave-hunters worked +themselves into a passion over a fruitless search of Mr. +Russell's innocent premises.</p> + +<p>Early one morning a few days afterward, as Capt. +Dobbins was on the bank of the lake, he saw a vessel +round the point of the Peninsula, sail up the channel, +and cast anchor in Misery Bay, then, and for many +years afterwards, a favorite anchorage for wind-bound +vessels. Soon a yawl was seen to put off for the +shore with the master of the vessel aboard. Capt. +Dobbins contrived to see him during the day, and +was delighted to find him an old and formerly +intimate shipmate. The ship-master heartily entered +into the Captain's plans, and it was agreed to put +Mason aboard of the vessel at two o'clock the next +morning.</p> + +<p>At the time of which we write, the steamer docks and +lumber-yards which later were built along the shore at +that point, were yet undreamed of, and the waters of +the bay broke unhindered at the foot of the high bank +on which stood Mrs. Kellogg's house, where Mason +was hid. It would not do openly to borrow a boat, +and Capt. Dobbins had no small difficulty in getting +a craft for the conveyance of his <i>protégé</i> to the vessel. +At last, late at night, a little, leaky old skiff was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +temporarily confiscated. By this time a strong breeze +had sprung up, and it was difficult to approach the +shore. A tree had fallen over the bank with its top in +the water, and the Captain found precarious anchorage +for his leaky tub by clinging to its branches. With a +cry like the call of the whip-poor-will the runaway was +summoned. In his hurry to get down the bank he +slipped and fell headlong into the fallen treetop; +while a small avalanche of stones and earth came crashing +after and nearly swamped the boat. When the +boat had been lightened of its unexpected cargo, the +voyage across the bay began. The poor darky, however, +was no sooner sure that his neck was not broken +by the tumble, than he was nearly dead with the fear +of drowning. Their boat, a little skiff just big enough +for one person, leaked like a sieve, and soon became +water-logged in the seaway. Mason's hat was a stiff +"plug," a former gift of charity. It had suffered +sorely by the plunge down the bank, but its ruin was +made complete by the Captain ordering its owner to +fall to and bail out the boat with it. The brim soon +vanished, but the upper part did very well as a bucket; +and the owner consoled himself that in thus sacrificing +his hat he saved his life. It was a close call for safety. +The Captain tugged away at the oars as never before, +and the shivering negro scooped away for dear life to +keep the boat afloat. In after years Capt. Dobbins +experienced shipwreck more than once, but he used +to say that never had he been in greater peril than +when making that memorable trip across Presque Isle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +Bay in the wild darkness and storm of midnight. The +vessel was at length reached. She was loaded with +staves, and a great hole was made in the deck load, +within which Mason was snugly stowed away, while +the staves were piled over him again. Capt. Dobbins +reached the mainland in safety before daylight, and +during the morning had the satisfaction of seeing the +wind haul around off land, when the vessel weighed +anchor and sailed away.</p> + +<p>Knowing that pursuit was impossible (there were +no steam tugs on the bay in those days), Capt. Dobbins +quietly told the officer that he was tired of being +watched, and that if he would come along, he would +show him where Mason was. The Captain had notified +some of his friends, and when the bank of the lake +was reached, a crowd had gathered, for the affair had +created quite a stir in the village.</p> + +<p>"Do you see that sail?" said the Captain, pointing +to the retreating vessel.</p> + +<p>"Well?" was the impatient answer.</p> + +<p>"Mason is aboard of her," was the quiet reply. +The befooled magistrate of the law, who had taken great +care to bring handcuffs for his expected prisoner, +acknowledged himself beaten; while the "nigger-chasers" +were glad to sneak off, followed by the shouts +and jeers of the crowd. "Pretty well done—for a +Democrat," said Mr. Russell to the Captain a few days +afterwards. "After your conversion to our principles +you will make a good Abolitionist."</p> + +<p>Some years after the event above narrated, as Capt.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +Dobbins<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> was in the cabin of his vessel as she lay at +Buffalo, a respectably-dressed black man was shown +into the cabin. It was Mason, who had come to repay +his benefactor with thanks and even with proffered +money. He had settled somewhere back of Kingston, +Ontario, on land which the Canadian Government at +that time gave to actual settlers. He had married an +amiable woman, and was prosperous and happy.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>I give the following incident substantially as it was +set down for me by Mr. Frank Henry:</p> + +<p>In the summer of 1858 Mr. Jehiel Towner (now +deceased) sent me a note from the city of Erie, asking +me to call on him that evening. When night came I +rode into town from my home in Harborcreek, and saw +Mr. Towner. "There are three 'passengers' hidden +in town, Henry," said he, "and we must land them +somewhere on the Canada shore. You are just the +man for this work; will you undertake to get them +across?"</p> + +<p>You must remember that we never had anything to +do with "runaway niggers" in those days, nor even +with "fugitive slaves"; we simply "assisted passengers." +I knew well enough that there was a +big risk in the present case, but I promised to do +my part, and so after talking over matters a little I +drove home.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next night just about dusk a wagon was driven +into my yard. The driver, one Hamilton Waters, +was a free mulatto, known to everybody around Erie. +He had brought a little boy with him as guide, for he +was almost as blind as a bat. In his wagon were three +of the strangest-looking "passengers" I ever saw; I can +remember how oddly they looked as they clambered out +of the wagon. There was a man they called Sam, a +great strapping negro, who might have been forty years +old. He was a loose-jointed fellow, with a head like +a pumpkin, and a mouth like a cavern, its vast circumference +always stretched in a glorious grin; for no +matter how badly Sam might feel, or how frightened, +the grin had so grown into his black cheeks that it +never vanished. I remember how, a few nights after, +when the poor fellow was scared just about out of his +wits, his grin, though a little ghastly, was as broad +as ever. Sam was one of the queerest characters I ever +met. His long arms seemed all wrists, his legs all +ankles; and when he walked, his nether limbs had a +flail-like flop that made him look like a runaway windmill. +The bases upon which rested this fearfully- +and wonderfully-made superstructure were abundantly +ample. On one foot he wore an old shoe—at least +number twelve in size—and on the other a heavy +boot; and his trousers-legs, by a grim fatality, were +similarly unbalanced, for while the one was tucked +into the boot-top, its fellow, from the knee down, had +wholly vanished. Sam wore a weather-beaten and +brimless "tile" on his head, and in his hand carried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +an old-fashioned long-barreled rifle. He set great +store by his "ole smooth bo'," though he handled it in +a gingerly sort of way, that suggested a greater fear of +its kicks than confidence in its aim. Sam's companions +were an intelligent-looking negro about twenty-five +years old, named Martin, and his wife, a pretty +quadroon girl, with thin lips and a pleasant voice, for +all the world like <i>Eliza</i> in "Uncle Tom's Cabin." +She carried a plump little piccaninny against her +breast, over which a thin shawl was tightly drawn. +She was an uncommonly attractive young woman, and I +made up my mind then and there that she shouldn't +be carried back to slavery if I had any say in the matter.</p> + +<p>The only persons besides myself who knew of their +arrival were William P. Trimble and Maj. F. L. Fitch. +The party was conducted to the old Methodist church +in Wesleyville, which had served for a long time as a +place of rendezvous and concealment. Except for the +regular Sunday services, and a Thursday-night prayer-meeting, +the church was never opened, unless for an +occasional funeral, and so it was as safe a place as could +well have been found. In case of unexpected intruders, +the fugitives could crawl up into the attic and remain +as safe as if in Liberia.</p> + +<p>It was my plan to take the "passengers" from the +mouth of Four-Mile Creek across the lake to Long +Point light-house, on the Canada shore, but the wind +hung in a bad quarter for the next two or three days, +and our party had to keep in the dark. One rainy +night, however—it was a miserable, drizzling rain,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +and dark as Egypt—I was suddenly notified that a +sailboat was in readiness off the mouth of Four-Mile +Creek. At first I was at a loss what to do. I didn't +dare go home for provisions, for I had good reason to +believe that my house was nightly watched by a +cowardly wretch, whose only concern was to secure the +$500 offered by Sam's former master for the capture of +the slaves. In the vicinity lived a well-to-do farmer, +a devoted pro-slavery Democrat. Notwithstanding his +politics, I knew the man was the soul of honor, and +possessed a great generous heart. So I marshaled my +black brigade out of the church, and marched them +off, through the rain, single file, to his house. In +answer to our knock, our friend threw open the door; +then, with a thousand interrogation points frozen into +his face, he stood for a minute, one hand holding a +candle above his head, the other shading his eyes, as +he stared at the wet and shivering group of darkies, +the very picture of dumfounded astonishment. In less +time than it takes to tell it, however, he grasped the +situation, hustled us all into the house and shut the +door with a most expressive slam.</p> + +<p>"What in —— does all this mean?" was his pious +ejaculation.</p> + +<p>He saw what it meant, and it needed but few words +of explanation on my part. "They are a party of +fugitives from slavery," said I, calling our friend by +name. "We are about to cross the lake to Canada; +the party are destitute and closely pursued; their only +crime is a desire for freedom. This young woman and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +mother has been sold from her husband and child to a +dealer in the far South, and if captured, she will be +consigned to a life of shame." The story was all too +common in those days, and needed no fine words. +The young girl's eyes pleaded more forcibly than any +words I could have spoken.</p> + +<p>"Well—what do you want of me?" demanded our +host, trying hard to look fierce and angry.</p> + +<p>"Clothing and provisions," I replied.</p> + +<p>"Now look here," said he, in his gruffest voice, +"this is a bad job—bad job." Then, turning to the +negroes: "Better go back. Canada is full of runaway +niggers now. They're freezin' and starvin' by +thousands. Was over in Canada t'other day. Saw six +niggers by the roadside, with their heads cut off. +Bones of niggers danglin' in the trees. Crows pickin' +their eyes out. <i>You</i> better go back, d'ye <i>hear</i>?" +he added, turning suddenly towards Sam.</p> + +<p>Poor Sam shook in his shoes, and his eyes rolled in +terror. He fingered his cherished smooth-bore as +though uncertain whether to shoot his entertainer, or +save all his ammunition for Canada crows, while he +cast a helpless look of appeal upon his companions. +The young woman, however, with her keener insight, +had seen through the sham brusqueness of their host; +and although she was evidently appalled by the horrible +picture of what lay before them across the lake, her +heart told her it was immeasurably to be preferred to a +return to the only fate which awaited her in the South. +Her thoughts lay in her face, and our friend read them;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> +and not having a stone in his broad bosom, but a big, +warm, thumping old heart, was moved to pity and to +aid. He set about getting a basket of provisions. +Then he skirmished around and found a blanket and +hood for the woman; all the time declaring that <i>he</i> +never would help runaway niggers, no sir! and drawing +(for Sam's especial delectation) the most horrible +pictures of Canadian hospitality that he could conjure +up. "You'll find 'em on shore waitin' for ye," said +he; "they'll catch ye and kill ye and string ye up for +a scare-crow." Seeing that Sam was coatless, he +stripped off his own coat and bundled it upon the +astonished darky with the consoling remark: "When +they get hold of <i>you</i> they'll tan your black hide, +stretch it for drum-heads, and beat 'God Save the +Queen' out of ye every day in the year."</p> + +<p>All being in readiness, our benefactor plunged his +hand into his pocket, and pulling it out full of small +change thrust it into the woman's hands, still urging +them to go back to the old life. At the door Sam +turned back and spoke for the first time:</p> + +<p>"Look 'e hyar, Massa, you's good to we uns an' 'fo' +de Lo'd I tank yer. Ef enny No'then gemmen hankah +fur my chances in de Souf, I' zign in dair favo'. 'Fo' +de good Lo'd I tank ye, Massa, I does, <i>shuah</i>!"</p> + +<p>Here Sam's feelings got the better of him, and we +were hurrying off, when our entertainer said:</p> + +<p>"See here, now, Henry, remember you were never +at my house with a lot of damned niggers in the night. +Do you understand?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> + +<p>"All right, sir. You are the last man who would +ever be charged with Abolitionism, and that's the +reason why we came here tonight. Mum is the word."</p> + +<p>The rain had stopped and the stars were shining in a +cheerful way as we all trudged down the wet road to +the lake shore. Our boat was found close in shore, +and Martin and his wife had waded out to it, while +Sam and I stood talking in low tones on the beach. +Suddenly a crash like the breaking of fence-boards was +heard on the bank near by, and to the westward of us. +We looked up quickly and saw the form of a man climb +over the fence and then crouch down in the shadow. +Up came Sam's rifle, and with a hurried aim he fired +at the moving object. His old gun was trusty and his +aim true, and had it not been for a lucky blow from my +hand, which knocked the gun upwards just as he fired, +and sent the ball whistling harmlessly over the bank, +there'd have been one less mean man in the world, and +we should have had a corpse to dispose of. I scrambled +up the bank, with my heart in my mouth, I'll confess, +just in time to see the sneak scurry along in the direction +of the highway. I watched a long time at the +creek after the boat left, and seeing no one astir started +for home. By the time I reached the Lake road the +moon had come up, and a fresh carriage-track could be +plainly seen. I followed it down the road a short distance, +when it turned, ran across the sod, and ended +at the fence, which had been freshly gnawed by horses. +It then turned back into the highway, followed up the +crossroad to Wesleyville, and thence came to the city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p> + +<p>The fugitives reached the promised land in safety, +and I heard from them several times thereafter. The +man Sam subsequently made two or three successful +trips back to the old home, once for a wife and afterwards +for other friends. He made some money in the +Canada oil fields, and some time after sent me $100, +$50 for myself to invest in books, and $50 for the fishermen +who carried them safely across to Long Point +and liberty.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Of all the places which have sheltered the fugitive +slave there is none better known, along the southeastern +shore of Lake Erie, than the old Methodist church +at Wesleyville, Erie Co., Pennsylvania. It stands +today much as it stood a half century since; though +repairs have been made from time to time, and of late +years modern coal stoves have replaced the capacious +but fervid old wood-eaters known as box-stoves. Dedicated +to God, it has been doubly hallowed by being +devoted to the cause of humanity. To more than +one wretch, worn out with the toils of a long flight, it +has proved a glorious house of refuge; and if safety +lay not within the shadow of its sacred altar, it surely +did amidst the shadowy gloom of its dingy garret.</p> + +<p>In the year 1856 there lived in Caldwell County, +in western Kentucky, a well-to-do farmer named Wilson. +He owned a large and well-stocked farm, which +he had inherited, with several slaves, from his father. +Mr. Wilson was an easy-going and indulgent master, +and reaped a greater reward of affection from his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +"people" than he did of pecuniary gain from his +plantation. In the autumn of the above-named year +he died, and his servants were divided among the +heirs, who lived in Daviess County, in the same State. +Two of the slaves, Jack and Nannie, a young man and +his sister, fell to the lot of a hard master named Watson. +The housekeeper dying, Nannie was taken from +the field to fill her place. Nothing could have been +worse for the poor girl. She was handsome, her young +master a brute. Because she defended her honor she +was cruelly punished and locked up for many hours. +Her brother succeeded in freeing her, and together +they fled, only to be recaptured. They were whipped +so terribly that the girl Nannie died. Jack survived, +heart-broken, quiet for a time, but with a growing resolve +in his heart. One night his master came home +from a debauch, and ordered Jack to perform some unreasonable +and impossible task. Because the poor boy +failed, the master flew at him with an open knife. It +was death for one of them. The image of poor Nan, +beaten to an awful death, rose before Jack's eyes. In +a moment he became a tiger. Seizing a cart-stake, he +dealt his master a blow that killed him. The blood of +his sister was avenged.</p> + +<p>Once more Jack fled. The murder of the master +had aroused the neighborhood. Blood-hounds, both +brute and human, scoured the woods and swamps; +flaming handbills offered great rewards for Jack Watson, +dead or alive. With incredible cunning, and +grown wary as a wild animal, Jack lurked in the vicin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>ity +a long time. When the excitement had somewhat +abated, he found his way to Salem, Ohio, and was for +a time in the employ of a worthy Quaker named Bonsell, +whose descendants still live in that locality. It +was then a neighborhood of Friends, and Jack's life +among them brought him great good. He learned to +read and write, and became in heart and conduct a +changed man. His life, however, was haunted by two +ghastly forms; and as often as the image of his murdered +master rose before him, that of Nan came also +to justify the deed. These apparitions wore upon him, +and made his life unnatural and highly sensitive. On +one occasion, while in Pittsburg, he saw what he took +to be the ghost of his murdered master coming toward +him in the street. He turned and fled in abject terror, +much to the astonishment of all passers-by. Long +afterward he learned that the supposed apparition was +a half-brother of his former master.</p> + +<p>Jack now determined to devote his life to freeing his +countrymen from bondage. In due time he found his +way to the house of Mr. John Young, a noted Abolitionist +of Wilmington township, in Mercer County, +Pennsylvania. Mr. Young was one of the first men in +Mercer County to proclaim his political convictions to +the world, and to stand by them, bravely and consistently, +and through many a dangerous hour, until slavery +was a thing of the past. No man ever asked brave +John Young for help and was refused. His house was +known among Abolitionists far and wide as a safe station +for the Underground Road.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> + +<p>While Jack was at Mr. Young's he fell in with a +young minister, himself a former fugitive from Kentucky, +and who was at the time an earnest Baptist +preacher in Syracuse, N. Y. This friend, named Jarm +W. Loguen, promised Jack shelter if he could but +reach Syracuse, and so Jack was "forwarded" along +the road.</p> + +<p>When he reached Erie, the late Mr. Thomas Elliott, +of Harborcreek, carried him to Wesleyville. His +pursuers were incidentally heard of as being in the +vicinity of Meadville, and it was necessary to proceed +with great caution; so Jack was hidden away for a few +days beneath the shelter of the old church roof.</p> + +<p>It so happened that at this time a protracted meeting +was in progress in the church. It was a great awakening, +well remembered yet in the neighborhood. There +were meetings every night, though the church was +shut up during the day. During the evening meetings +Jack would stay quietly concealed in the garret; but +after the congregation dispersed and the key was +turned in the door, he would descend, stir up a rousing +fire, and make himself as comfortable as possible until +the meeting-hour came round again. It is related that +Mr. David Chambers generously kept the house supplied +with fuel; and his boys, to whose lot fell the +manipulation of the wood-pile, were in constant wonder +at the disappearance of the wood. "I shan't be +very sorry when this revival winds up," said one of them +confidentially to the other; "it takes an awful lot of +wood to run a red-hot revival." The meanwhile black<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +Jack toasted his shins by the revival fire, and found, no +doubt, a deal of comfort in the sacred atmosphere of +the sheltering church.</p> + +<p>The meetings grew in interest with every night. +Scores were gathered into the fold of the church, and +the whole community, young and old, were touched by +the mysterious power. The meetings were conducted +by the Rev. John McLean, afterwards a venerable +superannuate of the East Ohio Conference, yet living (at +least a few years ago) in Canfield, Mahoning County, +Ohio; by the Rev. B. Marsteller, and others. The +interest came to a climax one Sunday night. A most +thrilling sermon had been preached. Every heart was +on fire with the sacred excitement, and it seemed as if +the Holy Spirit were almost tangible in their very midst. +The church was full, even to the gallery that surrounds +three sides of the interior. Methodists are not—at +least were not in those days—afraid to shout; and +Jack, hidden above the ceiling, had long been a rapt +listener to the earnest exhortations. His murder, his +people in bondage, all the sorrows and sins of his +eventful life, rose before his eyes. Overcome with +contrition, he knelt upon the rickety old boards, and +poured out his troubles in prayer. Meanwhile, down +below, the excitement grew. The Rev. James Sullivan +made an impassioned exhortation, and when he finished, +the altar was crowded with penitents. The service resolved +itself into a general prayer-meeting. Men +embraced each other in the aisles, or knelt in tearful +prayer together; while shouts of victory and groans<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +of repentance filled the church. God bless the good +old-fashioned shouting Methodists, who shouted all +the louder as the Lord drew near! Some of the old +revival hymns, sent rolling across winter fields, and +throbbing and ringing through the midnight air, would +set the very universe rejoicing, and scatter the legions +of Satan in dismay. Alas that the religion of lungs—the +shouting, noisy, devout, glorious old worship, is passing +away! The whispers of the Devil too often drown +the modulations of modern prayer, and instead of glorified +visions of angels and the saints, the eyes of modern +worshipers rest weariedly upon the things of the world.</p> + +<p>As the tide of excitement swelled higher and wilder +that night, it caught poor Jack, up in the garret. +Through narrow cracks he could see the emotions and +devotions of the audience; and in his enthusiasm he +wholly forgot that he was in concealment and his +presence known to only two or three of the worshipers.</p> + +<p>"Come up, sinners, come up to the Throne of +Grace and cast your heavy burdens down," called the +pastor, his face aglow with exercise and emotion, and +his heart throbbing with exultation. "Praise be to +God on High for this glorious harvest of souls."</p> + +<p>"Glory, glory, amen!" rose from all parts of the +church.</p> + +<p>"Glory, glory, amen!" came back a voice from +the unknown above.</p> + +<p>The hubbub was at such a pitch down stairs that +Jack's unconscious response was scarcely heard; but +to those in the gallery it was plainly audible.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Lord God of Sabbaoth," prayed the minister, +"come down upon us tonight. Send Thy Spirit into +our midst!"</p> + +<p>"Amen! glory! hallelujah!" shouted Jack in the +garret.</p> + +<p>The people in the gallery were in holy fear. "It is +Gabriel," they said.</p> + +<p>"We come to Thee, Lord! We come, we come!" +cried the repentent sinners down stairs.</p> + +<p>"I come, I come, glory to God, hallelujah, amen!" +shouted back the Gabriel in the garret, clapping his +hands in the fervor of his ecstacy.</p> + +<p>All at once his Abolition friends below heard him. +They were struck with consternation and looked at +each other in dismay. If Jack was discovered, there +would be trouble; they must quiet him at any hazard. +"The idea of that nigger getting the power in the +garret! A stop must be put to that at once. A +revival in full blast is an unusual treat for an Underground +Railroad traveler; he should take with gratitude +what he could hear, and keep still for the safety +of his skin." So thought his frightened friends, who +at once cast about for means to quiet him.</p> + +<p>Now it so happened—how fortunate that there is +always a way out of a dilemma!—that the old stove-pipe, +which connected with the chimney in the attic, +frequently became disconnected; and on more than +one occasion incipient fires had started among the dry +boards of the garret floor. The people were used to +seeing the boys go aloft to look after the safety of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +house; so, when Dempster M. Chambers, a son of Mr. +Stewart Chambers, inspired by a happy thought, scrambled +up the ladder and crawled through the trap-door +into the gloom, those who noticed it thought only that +the old stove-pipe had slipped out, and continued to +throw their sins as fuel into the general religious +blaze; or thinking of the fires of hell, gave little heed +to lesser flames. Jack was soon quieted, and the meeting, +having consumed itself with its own fervor, broke +up without further incident. There is no doubt, however, +that certain worthy people who were seated in the +gallery have ever stoutly maintained that the Angel +Gabriel actually replied to the prayers of that memorable +night.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p> + +<p>In due time Jack Watson reached the home of his +friend, the Rev. Jarm W. Loguen; and during the dark +days of the War he rendered valuable aid to the Union +cause along the Kentucky and Virginia borders, and in +one guerrilla skirmish he lost his left arm. A few +years since he was still living on a preëmpted land-claim +in Rice County, Kansas.</p> + +<p>The following incident, connected with Watson's +career, will not be out of place in closing this sketch:</p> + +<p>Some years since the Rev. Glezen Fillmore, a +famous pioneer of the Methodist Episcopal Church in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +Buffalo, and for more than half a century an honored +member of the Genesee Conference, was engaged in +raising funds for the Freedmen's Aid Society. One +day his cousin, the late ex-President Millard Fillmore, +rode out from Buffalo to visit him. During the conversation +the venerable preacher related the story of +Watson's escape, as Watson himself had told it while +at Fillmore's Underground Railroad depot. The +former President was strongly touched by the story, +and at its close he drew a check for fifty dollars for the +Freedmen. "Thank you, thank you," said the good +old parson. "I was praying that the Lord would open +your heart to give ten dollars, and here are fifty."</p> + +<p>No study of Underground Railroad work in this +region, even though, like the present paper, it aims to +be chiefly anecdotal, can neglect recognition of the +fact that it was a Buffalo man in the Presidential chair +who, by signing the Fugitive Slave act of 1850, brought +upon his head the maledictions of the Abolitionists, +who were so stimulated thereby in their humanitarian +law-breaking, that the most active period in Underground +Railroad work dates from the stroke of Millard +Fillmore's pen which sought to put a stop to it. No +passage in American history displays more acrimony +than this. Wherever the friends of the negro were at +work on Underground lines, Mr. Fillmore was denounced +in the most intemperate terms. In his home +city of Buffalo, some who had hitherto prided themselves +upon his distinguished acquaintance, estranged +themselves from him, and on his return to Buffalo he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +found cold and formal treatment from people whom he +had formerly greeted as friends. Insults were offered +him; and the changed demeanor of many of his townsmen +showed itself even in the church which he +attended. Certain ardent souls there were who refused +any longer to worship where he did.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> Mr. Fillmore +met all these hostile demonstrations, as he sustained +the angry protests and denunciations of the Abolitionists +in general, in dignified impurturbability, resting +his case upon the constitutionality of his conduct. +The act of 1850 reaffirmed the act of 1793, and both +rested upon the explicit provision in the Constitution +which declares that "no person held to service or +labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into +another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation +therein, be discharged from such service or labor; but +shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such +service or labor may be due." Obviously, so far as this +section was concerned, many people of the North were +in rebellion against the Constitution of the United +States for many years before the Civil War. That the +work of the Underground Railroad was justifiable in +the humanitarian aspect needs no argument now. But +the student of that period cannot overcome the legal +stand taken by Mr. Fillmore, his advisers and sym<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>pathizers, +unless he asserts, as Mr. Seward asserted, +that the provision of the Constitution relating to the +rendition of slaves was of no binding force. "The law +of nations," he declared, "disavows such compacts—the +law of nature written on the hearts and consciences +of men repudiates them."<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> This was met by the +plausible assertion that "the hostility which was +directed against the law of 1850 would have been +equally violent against any law which effectually carried +out the provision of the Constitution."<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> During +the years that followed, efforts were made to recover +fugitive slaves under this law. Special officers were +appointed to execute it, but in most Northern communities +they were regarded with odium, and every +possible obstacle put in the way of the discharge of +their offensive duties. Many tragic affairs occurred; +but the organization of the Underground Railroad was +too thorough, its operation was in the hands of men too +discreet and determined, to be seriously disturbed by a +law which found so little moral support in the communities +through which its devious trails ran. Thus the +work went on, through civil contention and bloody +war, until the Emancipator came to loose all shackles, +to put an end to property in slaves, and to stop all +work, because abolishing all need, of the Underground +Railroad.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<h1>Niagara and the Poets.</h1> + + +<hr style="width: 85%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> +<h2>NIAGARA AND THE POETS.</h2> + + +<p>On a day in July, 1804, a ruddy-faced, handsome +young Irishman, whose appearance must +have commanded unusual attention in wild +frontier surroundings, came out of the woods that +overlooked Lake Erie, picking his way among the +still-standing stumps, and trudged down the Indian +trail, which had not long been made passable for +wagons. Presently he came into the better part of the +road, named Willink Avenue, passed a dozen scattered +houses, and finally stopped at John Crow's log tavern, +the principal inn of the infant Buffalo. He was dusty, +tired, and disgusted with the fortune that had brought +an accident some distance back in the woods, compelling +him to finish this stage of his journey, not merely +on foot, but disabled. Here, surrounded by more +Indians than whites, he lodged for a day or so before +continuing his journey to Niagara Falls; and here, +according to his own testimony, he wrote a long poem, +which was not only, in all probability, the first poem +ever composed in Buffalo, and one of the bitterest +tirades against America and American institutions to +be found in literature; but which contained, so far as +I have been able to discover, the first allusion to Niagara +Falls, written by one who actually traveled +thither, in the poetry of any language.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + +<p>The poetry of Niagara Falls is contemporary with +the first knowledge of the cataract among civilized +men. One may make this statement with positiveness, +inasmuch as the first book printed in Europe which +mentions Niagara Falls contains a poem in which allusion +is made to that wonder. This work is the excessively +rare "Des Sauvages" of Champlain (Paris, +1604),<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> in which, after the dedication, is a sonnet, +inscribed "Le Sievr de la Franchise av discovrs Dv +Sievr Champlain." It seems proper, in quoting this +first of all Niagara poems, to follow as closely as may +be in modern type the archaic spelling of the original:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Mvses, si vous chantez, vrayment ie vous conseille<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Que vous louëz Champlain, pour estre courageux:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sans crainte des hasards, il a veu tant de lieux,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Que ses relations nous contentent l'oreille.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Il a veu le Perou,<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> Mexique & la Merueille<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Du Vulcan infernal qui vomit tant de feux,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Et les saults Mocosans,<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> qui offensent les yeux<br /></span> +<span class="i1">De ceux qui osent voir leur cheute nonpareille.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span><span class="i0">Il nous promet encor de passer plus auant,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Reduire les Gentils, & trouuer le Leuant,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Par le Nort, ou le Su, pour aller à la Chine.<br /></span> +<span class="i1">C'est charitablement tout pour l'amour de Dieu.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fy des lasches poltrons qui ne bougent d'vn lieu!<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Leur vie, sans mentir, me paroist trop mesquine.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I regret that some research has failed to discover +any further information regarding the poet De la Franchise. +Obviously, he took rather more than the permissible +measure of poet's license in saying that Champlain +had seen Peru, a country far beyond the known +range of Champlain's travels. But in the phrase "<i>les +saults Mocosans</i>," the falls of Mocosa, we have the +ancient name of the undefined territory afterwards +labeled "Virginia." The intent of the allusion is +made plainer by Marc Lescarbot, who in 1610 wrote a +poem in which he speaks of "great falls which the +Indians say they encounter in ascending the St. Lawrence +as far as the neighborhood of Virginia."<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> The +allusion can only be to Niagara.</p> + +<p>It is gratifying to find our incomparable cataract a +theme for song, even though known only by aboriginal +report, thus at the very dawn of exploration in this +part of America. It is fitting, too, that the French +should be the first to sing of what they discovered. +More than a century after De la Franchise and Lescarbot, +a Frenchman who really saw the falls introduced +them to the muse, though only by a quotation. This<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +was Father Charlevoix, who, writing "From the Fall +of Niagara, May 14, 1721," to the Duchess of Lesdiguieres, +was moved to aid his description by quoting +poetry. "Ovid," the priest wrote to the duchess, +"gives us the description of such 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," and he thereupon quotes these +lines from the "Metamorphoses":</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Est nemus Hæmoniæ, prærupta quod undique claudit<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sylva; vocant Tempe, per quæ Peneus ab imo<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Effusus Pindo spumosis volvitur undis,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dejectisque gravi tenues agitantia fumos<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nubila conducit, summisque aspergine sylvas,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Impluit, et sonitu plusquam vicina fatigat.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It would be strange if there were not other impressionable +Frenchmen who composed or quoted verses +expressive of Niagara's grandeur, during the eighty-one +years that elapsed between the French discovery +of Niagara Falls and the English Conquest—a period +of over three-quarters of a century during which +earth's most magnificent cataract belonged to France. +But if priest or soldier, coureur-de-bois or verse-maker +at the court of Louis said aught in meter of Niagara in +all that time, I have not found it.</p> + +<p>A little thunder by Sir William Johnson's guns at +Fort Niagara, a little blood on the Plains of Abraham, +and Niagara Falls was handed over to Great Britain. +Four years after the Conquest English poetry made its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +first claim to our cataract. In 1764 appeared that +ever-delightful work, "The Traveller, or, a Prospect +of Society," wherein we read:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Have we not seen at pleasure's lordly call<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The smiling long-frequented village fall?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Behold the duteous son, the sire decayed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The modest matron or the blushing maid,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Forced from their homes, a melancholy train,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To traverse climes beyond the western main;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where wild Oswego spreads her swamps around<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And Niagara<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> stuns with thundering sound.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Even now, perhaps, as there some pilgrim strays<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Through tangled forests and through dangerous ways,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where beasts with man divided empire claim,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the brown Indian marks with murderous aim;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There, while above the giddy tempest flies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all around distressful yells arise,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The pensive exile, bending with his woe,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To stop too fearful and too faint to go,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Casts a long look where England's glories shine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And bids his bosom sympathize with mine.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Obviously, Oliver Goldsmith's "Traveller," in its +American allusions, reflected the current literature of +those years when Englishmen heard more of Oswego<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +than they ever have since. Niagara and Oswego were +uttermost points told of in the dispatches, during that +long war, reached and held by England's "far-flung +battle line"; but if Britain's poets found any inspiration +in Niagara's mighty fount for a half century after +Goldsmith, I know it not.</p> + +<p>And this brings us again to our first visiting poet, +Tom Moore, whose approach to Niagara by way of +Buffalo in 1804 has been described. Penning an +epistle in rhyme from "Buffalo, on Lake Erie," to +the Hon. W. R. Spencer—writing, we are warranted +in fancying, after a supper of poor bacon and tea, or +an evening among the loutish Indians who hung about +Crow's log-tavern—he recorded his emotions in no +amiable mood:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Even now, as wandering upon Erie's shore<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I hear Niagara's distant cataract roar,<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a><br /></span> +<span class="i0">I sigh for home—alas! these weary feet<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Have many a mile to journey, ere we meet.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Niagara in 1804 was most easily approached from +the East by schooner on Lake Ontario from Oswego, +though the overland trail through the woods was beginning +to be used. Moore came by the land route. The +record of the journey is to be found in the preface to +his American Poems, and in his letters to his mother,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +published for the first time in his "Memoirs, Journal +and Correspondence," edited by Earl Russell and +issued in London and Boston in 1853-'56. The +letters narrating his adventures in the region are +dated "Geneva, Genessee County, July 17, 1804"; +"Chippewa, Upper Canada, July 22d"; "Niagara, +July 24th";—in which he copies a description of the +falls from his journal, not elsewhere published—and +"Chippewa, July 25th," signed "Tom." There is +no mention in these letters of Buffalo, but in the prefatory +narrative above alluded to we have this interesting +account of the visit:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It is but too true, of all grand objects, whether in nature or +art, that facility of access to them much diminishes the feeling of +reverence they ought to inspire. Of this fault, however, the +route to Niagara, at this period—at least the portion of it which +led through the Genesee country—could not justly be accused. +The latter part of the journey, which lay chiefly through yet but +half-cleared woods, we were obliged to perform on foot; and a +slight accident I met with in the course of our rugged walk laid +me up for some days at Buffalo.</p></div> + +<p>And so laid up—perhaps with a blistered heel—he +sought relief by driving his quill into the heart of +democracy. His friend, he lamented, had often told +him of happy hours passed amid the classic associations +and art treasures of Italy:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But here alas, by Erie's stormy lake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As far from such bright haunts my course I take,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No proud remembrance o'er the fancy plays,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No classic dream, no star of other days<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span><span class="i0">Hath left the visionary light behind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That lingering radiance of immortal mind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which gilds and hallows even the rudest scene,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The humblest shed where Genius once had been.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He views, not merely his immediate surroundings in +the pioneer village by Lake Erie, but the general character +of the whole land:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">All that creation's varying mass assumes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of grand or lovely, here aspires and blooms.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bold rise the mountains, rich the gardens glow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bright lakes expand and conquering rivers flow;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But mind, immortal mind, without whose ray<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This world's a wilderness and man but clay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mind, mind alone, in barren still repose,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor blooms, nor rises, nor expands, nor flows.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Take Christians, Mohawks, democrats and all,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the rude wigwam to the Congress Hall,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From man the savage, whether slaved or free,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To man the civilized, less tame than he,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Tis one dull chaos, one unfertile strife<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Betwixt half-polished and half-barbarous life;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where every ill the ancient world could brew<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is mixed with every grossness of the new;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where all corrupts, though little can entice,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And naught is known of luxury, but its vice!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is this the region then, is this the clime<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For soaring fancies? for those dreams sublime,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which all their miracles of light reveal<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To heads that meditate and hearts that feel?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Alas! not so!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And after much more of proud protest against Columbia +and "the mob mania that imbrutes her now," +our disapproving poet turned in to make the best, let<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +us hope, of Landlord Crow's poor quarters, and to +prepare for Niagara. Years afterwards he admitted +that there was some soul for song among the men of +the Far West of that day. Very complacently he tells +us that "Even then, on the shores of those far lakes, the +title of 'Poet'—however in that instance unworthily +bestowed—bespoke a kind and distinguished welcome +for its wearer. The captain who commanded the +packet in which I crossed Lake Ontario, in addition to +other marks of courtesy, begged, on parting with me, +to be allowed to decline payment for my passage." I +cannot do better than to quote further from his account +of the visit to the falls:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>When we arrived at length at the inn, in the neighborhood of +the Falls, it was too late to think of visiting them that evening; +and I lay awake almost the whole night with the sound of the +cataract in my ears. The day following I consider as a sort of +era in my life; and the first glimpse I caught of that wonderful +cataract gave me a feeling which nothing in this world can ever +awaken again. It was through an opening among the trees, as we +approached the spot where the full view of the Falls was to burst +upon us, that I caught this glimpse of the mighty mass of waters +falling smoothly over the edge of the precipice; and so overwhelming +was the notion it gave me of the awful spectacle I was approaching, +that during the short interval that followed, imagination +had far outrun the reality—and vast and wonderful as +was the scene that then opened upon me, my first feeling +was that of disappointment. It would have been impossible, +indeed, for anything real to come up to the vision I had, in +these few seconds, formed of it, and those awful scriptural +words, 'The fountains of the great deep were broken up,' +can alone give any notion of the vague wonders for which I +was prepared.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<p>But, in spite of the start thus got by imagination, the triumph +of reality was, in the end, but the greater; for the gradual glory of +the scene that opened upon me soon took possession of my whole +mind; presenting from day to day, some new beauty or wonder, +and like all that is most sublime in nature or art, awakening sad as +well as elevating thoughts. I retain in my memory but one other +dream—for such do events so long past appear—which can by +any respect be associated with the grand vision I have just been +describing; and however different the nature of their appeals to +the imagination, I should find it difficult to say on which occasion I +felt most deeply affected, when looking at the Falls of Niagara, +or when standing by moonlight among the ruins of the Coliseum.</p></div> + +<p>It was the tranquillity and unapproachableness of the +great fall, in the midst of so much turmoil, which most +impressed him. He tried to express this in a Song of +the Spirit of the region:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There amid the island sedge,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Just upon the cataract's edge,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the foot of living man<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Never trod since time began,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lone I sit at close of day,<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> ...<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The poem as a whole, however, is not a strong one, +even for Tom Moore.</p> + +<p>As the Irish bard sailed back to England, another +pedestrian poet was making ready for a tour to Niagara. +This was the Paisley weaver, rhymster and roamer, +Alexander Wilson, whose fame as an ornithologist outshines +his reputation as a poet. Yet in him America +has—by adoption—her Oliver Goldsmith. In 1794, +being then twenty-eight years old, he arrived in Phila<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>delphia. +For eight years he taught school, or botanized, +roamed the woods with his gun, worked at the +loom, and peddled his verses among the inhabitants of +New Jersey. In October, 1804, accompanied by his +nephew and another friend, he set out on a walking +expedition to Niagara, which he satisfactorily accomplished. +His companions left him, but he persevered, +and reached home after an absence of fifty-nine days and +a walk of 1,260 miles. It is very pleasant, especially +for one who has himself toured afoot over a considerable +part of this same route, to follow our naturalist poet and +his friends on their long walk through the wilderness, in +the pages of Wilson's descriptive poem, "The Foresters." +Its first edition, it is believed, is a quaint +little volume of 106 pages, published at Newtown, +Penn., in 1818.<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> The route led through Bucks and +Northumberland counties, over the mountains and up +the valley of the Susquehanna; past Newtown, N. Y., +now Elmira, and so on to the Indian village of Catherine, +near the head of Seneca Lake. Here, a quarter +of a century before, Sullivan and his raiders had brought +desolation, traces of which stirred our singer to some +of his loftiest flights. In that romantic wilderness of +rocky glen and marsh and lake, the region where Montour +Falls and Watkins now are, Wilson lingered to shoot +wild fowl. Thence the route lay through that interval +of long ascents—so long that the trudging poet thought</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To Heaven's own gates the mountain seemed to rise<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> +<p class="noin">—and equally long descents, from Seneca Lake to Cayuga. +Here, after a night's rest, under a pioneer's roof:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Our boat now ready and our baggage stored,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Provisions, mast and oars and sails aboard,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With three loud cheers that echoed from the steep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We launched our skiff "Niagara" to the deep.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Down to old Cayuga bridge they sailed and through +the outlet, passed the salt marshes and so on to Fort +Oswego. That post had been abandoned on the 28th +of October, about a week before Wilson arrived there. +A desolate, woebegone place he found it:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Those struggling huts that on the left appear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where fence, or field, or cultured garden green,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or blessed plough, or spade were never seen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is old Oswego; once renowned in trade,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where numerous tribes their annual visits paid.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From distant wilds, the beaver's rich retreat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For one whole moon they trudged with weary feet;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Piled their rich furs within the crowded store,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Replaced their packs and plodded back for more.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But time and war have banished all their trains<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And naught but potash, salt and rum remains.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The boisterous boatman, drunk but twice a day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Begs of the landlord; but forgets to pay;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pledges his salt, a cask for every quart,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pleased thus for poison with his pay to part.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From morn to night here noise and riot reign;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From night to morn 'tis noise and roar again.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Not a flattering picture, truly, and yet no doubt a +trustworthy one, of this period in Oswego's history.</p> + +<p>But we must hurry along with the poet to his destination, +although the temptation to linger with him in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +this part of the journey is great. Indeed, "The +Foresters" is a historic chronicle of no slight value. +There is no doubting the fidelity of its pictures of the +state of nature and of man along this storied route as +seen by its author at the beginning of the century; +while his poetic philosophizing is now shrewd, now +absurd, but always ardently American in tone.</p> + +<p>Our foresters undertook to coast along the Ontario +shore in their frail "Niagara"; narrowly escaped +swamping, and were picked up by</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A friendly sloop for Queenstown Harbor bound,<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">where they arrived safely, after being gloriously seasick. +It was the season of autumn gales. A few days +before a British packet called the Speedy, with some +twenty or thirty persons on board, including a judge +advocate, other judges, witnesses and an Indian prisoner, +had foundered and every soul perished. No part of +the Speedy was afterwards found but the pump, which +Wilson says his captain picked up and carried to +Queenston.</p> + +<p>Wilson had moralized, philosophized and rhapsodized +all the way from the Schuylkill. His verse, as he +approaches the Mecca of his wanderings, fairly palpitates +with expectation and excitement. He was not a +bard to sing in a majestic strain, but his description of +the falls and their environment is vivid and of historic +value. As they tramped through the forest,—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Heavy and slow, increasing on the ear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Deep through the woods a rising storm we hear.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Th' approaching gust still loud and louder grows,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As when the strong northeast resistless blows,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or black tornado, rushing through the wood,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Alarms th' affrighted swains with uproar rude.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet the blue heavens displayed their clearest sky,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And dead below the silent forests lie;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And not a breath the lightest leaf assailed;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But all around tranquillity prevailed.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"What noise is that?" we ask with anxious mien,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A dull salt-driver passing with his team.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Noise? noise?—why, nothing that I hear or see<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But Nagra Falls—Pray, whereabouts live ye?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This touch of realism ushers in a long and over-wrought +description of the whole scene. The "crashing +roar," he says,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">—— bade us kneel and Time's great God adore.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Whatever may have been his emotions, his adjectives +are sadly inadequate, and his verse devoid of true +poetic fervor. More than one of his descriptive +passages, however, give us those glimpses of conditions +past and gone, which the historian values. For instance, +this:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">High o'er the wat'ry uproar, silent seen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sailing sedate, in majesty serene,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now midst the pillared spray sublimely lost,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Swept the gray eagles, gazing calm and slow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On all the horrors of the gulf below;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Intent, alone, to sate themselves with blood,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the torn victims of the raging flood.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Wilson was not the man to mistake a bird; and +many other early travelers have testified to the former +presence of eagles in considerable numbers, haunting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +the gorge below the falls in quest of the remains of +animals that had been carried down stream.</p> + +<p>Moore, as we have seen, denounced the country for +its lack of</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">That lingering radiance of immortal mind<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">which so inspires the poet in older lands. He was +right in his fact, but absurd in his fault-finding. It +has somewhere been said of him, that Niagara Falls +was the only thing he found in America which overcame +his self-importance; but we must remember his +youth, the flatteries on which he had fed at home and the +crudities of American life at that time. For a quarter +of a century after Tom Moore's visit there was much +in the crass assertiveness of American democracy which +was as ridiculous in its way as the Old-World ideas of +class and social distinctions were in their way—and +vastly more vulgar and offensive. Read, in evidence, +Mrs. Trollope and Capt. Basil Hall, two of America's +severest and sincerest critics. It should be put down +to Tom Moore's credit, too, that before he died he admitted +to Washington Irving and to others that his writings +on America were the greatest sin of his early life.<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p> +<p>Like Moore, Alexander Wilson felt America's lack +of a poet; and, like Barlow and Humphreys and +Freneau and others of forgotten fame, he undertook—like +them again, unsuccessfully—to supply the lack. +There is something pathetic—or grotesque, as we look +at it—in the patriotic efforts of these commonplace +men to be great for their country's sake.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To Europe's shores renowned in deathless song,<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">asks Wilson,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Must all the honors of the bard belong?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And rural Poetry's enchanting strain<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Be only heard beyond th' Atlantic main?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yet Nature's charms that bloom so lovely here,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Unhailed arrive, unheeded disappear;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While bare black heaths and brooks of half a mile<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Can rouse the thousand bards of Britain's Isle.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There, scarce a stream creeps down its narrow bed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There scarce a hillock lifts its little head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or humble hamlet peeps their glades among<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But lives and murmurs in immortal song.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our Western world, with all its matchless floods,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Our vast transparent lakes and boundless woods,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stamped with the traits of majesty sublime,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Unhonored weep the silent lapse of time,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Spread their wild grandeur to the unconscious sky,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In sweetest seasons pass unheeded by;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While scarce one Muse returns the songs they gave,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or seeks to snatch their glories from the grave.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> +<p>This solicitude by the early American writers, lest +the poetic themes of their country should go unsung, +contrasts amusingly, as does Moore's ill-natured complaining, +with the prophetic assurance of Bishop Berkeley's +famous lines, written half a century or so before, +in allusion to America:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The muse, disgusted at an age and clime<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Barren of every glorious theme,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In distant lands now waits a better time,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Producing subjects worthy fame.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +<span class="i1">Westward the course of empire takes its way, ...<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I have found no other pilgrim poets making Niagara +their theme, until the War of 1812 came to create +heroes and leave ruin along the frontier, and stir a few +patriotic singers to hurl back defiance to the British +hordes. Iambic defiance, unless kindled by a grand +genius, is a poor sort of fireworks, even when it undertakes +to combine patriotism and natural grandeur. +Certainly something might be expected of a poet who +sandwiches Niagara Falls in between bloody battles, +and gives us the magnificent in nature, the gallant in +warfare and the loftiest patriotism in purpose, the three +strains woven in a triple pæan of passion, ninety-four +duodecimo pages in length. Such a work was offered +to the world at Baltimore in 1818, with this title-page: +"Battle of Niagara, a Poem Without Notes, and Goldau, +or the Maniac Harper. Eagles and Stars and +Rainbows. By Jehu O' Cataract, author of 'Keep +Cool.'" I have never seen "Keep Cool," but it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +must be very different from the "Battle of Niagara," +or it belies its name. The fiery Jehu O' Cataract was +John Neal.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a></p> + +<p>The "Battle of Niagara," he informs the reader, +was written when he was a prisoner; when he "felt +the victories of his countrymen." "I have attempted," +he says, "to do justice to American scenery and American +character, not to versify minutiæ of battles." +The poem has a metrical introduction and four cantos, +in which is told, none too lucidly, the story of the +battle of Niagara; with such flights of eagles, scintillation +of stars and breaking of rainbows, that no brief +quotation can do it justice. In style it is now Miltonic, +now reminiscent of Walter Scott. The opening +canto is mainly an apostrophe to the Bird, and a vision +of glittering horsemen. Canto two is a dissertation on +Lake Ontario, with word-pictures of the primitive Indian. +The rest of the poem is devoted to the battle +near the great cataract—and throughout all are +sprinkled the eagles, stars and rainbows. Do not infer +from this characterization that the production is wholly +bad; it is merely a good specimen of that early Ameri<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>can +poetry which was just bad enough to escape being +good.</p> + +<p>A brief passage or two will sufficiently illustrate the +author's trait of painting in high colors. He is a word-impressionist +whose brush, with indiscreet dashes, +mars the composition. I select two passages descriptive +of the battle:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The drum is rolled again. The bugle sings<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And far upon the wind the cross flag flings<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A radiant challenge to its starry foe,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That floats—a sheet of light!—away below,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where troops are forming—slowly in the night<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of mighty waters; where an angry light<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bounds from the cataract, and fills the skies<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With visions—rainbows—and the foamy dyes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That one may see at morn in youthful poets' eyes.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Niagara! Niagara! I hear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thy tumbling waters. And I see thee rear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thy thundering sceptre to the clouded skies:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I see it wave—I hear the ocean rise,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And roll obedient to thy call. I hear<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The tempest-hymning of thy floods in fear;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The quaking mountains and the nodding trees—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The reeling birds and the careering breeze—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The tottering hills, unsteadied in thy roar;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Niagara! as thy dark waters pour<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One everlasting earthquake rocks thy lofty shore!<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +<span class="i0">The cavalcade went by. The day hath gone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And yet the soldier lives; his cheerful tone<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rises in boisterous song; while slowly calls<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The monarch spirit of the mighty falls:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Soldier, be firm! and mind your watchfires well;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sleep not to-night!<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>The following picture of the camp at sunset, as the +reveille rings over the field, and Niagara's muffled +drums vibrate through the dusk, presents many of the +elements of true poetry:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Low stooping from his arch, the glorious sun<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hath left the storm with which his course begun;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And now in rolling clouds goes calmly home<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In heavenly pomp adown the far blue dome.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In sweet-toned minstrelsy is heard the cry,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All clear and smooth, along the echoing sky,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of many a fresh-blown bugle full and strong,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The soldier's instrument! the soldier's song!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Niagara, too, is heard; his thunder comes<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like far-off battle—hosts of rolling drums.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">All o'er the western heaven the flaming clouds<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Detach themselves and float like hovering shrouds.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Loosely unwoven, and afar unfurled,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A sunset canopy enwraps the world.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Vesper hymn grows soft. In parting day<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wings flit about. The warblings die away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The shores are dizzy and the hills look dim,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The cataract falls deeper and the landscapes swim.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Jehu O' Cataract does not always hold his fancy with +so steady a rein as this. He is prone to eccentric +flights, to bathos and absurdities. His apostrophe to +Lake Ontario, several hundred lines in length, has many +fine fancies, but his luxuriant imagination continually +wrecks itself on extravagancies which break down the +effect. This I think the following lines illustrate:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">... He had fought with savages, whose breath<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He felt upon his cheek like mildew till his death.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +<span class="i0">So stood the battle. Bravely it was fought,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lions and Eagles met. That hill was bought<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And sold in desperate combat. Wrapped in flame,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Died these idolaters of bannered fame.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Three times that meteor hill was bravely lost—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Three times 'twas bravely won, while madly tost,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Encountering red plumes in the dusky air;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While Slaughter shouted in her bloody lair,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And spectres blew their horns and shook their whistling hair.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>There are allusions to Niagara in some of the ballads +of the War of 1812, one of the finest of which, "Sea +and Land Victories," beginning</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">With half the western world at stake<br /></span> +<span class="i0">See Perry on the midland lake,—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">appeared in the Naval Songster of 1815, and was a +great favorite half a century or more ago. So far, +however, as the last War with Great Britain has added +to our store of poetry by turning the attention of the +poets to the Niagara region as a strikingly picturesque +scene of war, there is little worthy of attention. One +ambitious work is remembered, when remembered at +all, as a curio of literature. This is "The Fredoniad, +or Independence Preserved," an epic poem by Richard +Emmons, a Kentuckian, afterwards a physician of Philadelphia. +He worked on it for ten years, finally +printed it in 1826, and in 1830 got it through a second +edition, ostentatiously dedicated to Lafayette. "The +Fredoniad" is a history in verse of the War of 1812; +it was published in four volumes; it has forty cantos, +filling 1,404 duodecimo pages, or a total length of about +42,000 lines. The first and second cantos are devoted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> +to Hell, the third to Heaven, and the fourth to Detroit. +About one-third of the whole work is occupied with +military operations on the Niagara frontier. Nothing +from Fort Erie to Fort Niagara escapes this meter-machine. +The Doctor's poetic feet stretch out to +miles and leagues, but not a single verse do I find that +prompts to quotation; though, I am free to confess, I +have not read them all, and much doubt if any one save +the infatuated author, and perhaps his proof-reader, +ever did read the whole of "The Fredoniad."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>No sooner was the frontier at peace, and the pathways +of travel multiplied and smoothed, than there set +in the first great era of tourist travel to Niagara. From +1825, when the opening of the Erie Canal first made +the falls easily accessible to the East, the tide of visitors +steadily swelled. In that year came one other +poetizing pilgrim, from York, now Toronto, who, +returning home, published in his own city a duodecimo +of forty-six pages, entitled "Wonders of the West, or +a Day at the Falls of Niagara in 1825. A Poem. By +a Canadian." The author was J. S. Alexander, said +to have been a Toronto school-teacher. It is a great +curio, though of not the least value as poetry; in fact, +as verse it is ridiculously bad. The author does not +narrate his own adventures at Niagara, but makes his +descriptive and historical passages incidental to the +story of a hero named <i>St. Julian</i>. Never was the name +of this beloved patron saint of travelers more unhappily +bestowed, for this <i>St. Julian</i> is a lugubrious, crack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>-brained +individual who mourns the supposed death of +a lady-love, <i>Eleanor St. Fleur</i>. Other characters are +introduced; all French except a remarkable driver +named <i>Wogee</i>, who tells legends and historic incidents +in as good verse, apparently, as the author was able to +produce. <i>St. Julian</i> is twice on the point of committing +suicide; once on Queenston Heights, and again at +the falls. Just as he is about to throw himself into the +river he hears his <i>Ellen's</i> voice—the lady, it seems, +had come from France by a different route—all the +mysteries are cleared up, and the reunited lovers and +their friends decide to "hasten hence,"</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Again to our dear native France,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where we shall talk of all we saw,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">At thy dread falls, Niagara.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>From about this date the personal adventures of individuals +bound for Niagara cease to be told in verse, +and if they were they would cease to be of much historic +interest. The relation of the poets to Niagara +no longer concerns us because of its historic aspect.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>There remains, however, an even more important +division of the subject. The review must be less narrative +than critical, to satisfy the natural inquiry, +What impress upon the poetry of our literature has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +this greatest of cataracts made during the three-quarters +of a century that it has been easily accessible to +the world? What of the supreme in poetry has been +prompted by this mighty example of the supreme in +nature? The proposition at once suggests subtleties +of analysis which must not be entered upon in this +brief survey. The answer to the question is attempted +chiefly by the historical method. A few selected examples +of the verse which relates to Niagara will, by +their very nature, indicate the logical answer to the +fundamental inquiry.</p> + +<p>There is much significance in the fact, that what has +been called the best poem on Niagara was written by +one who never saw the falls. Chronologically, so far +as I have ascertained, it is the work which should next +be considered, for it appeared in the columns of a +New-England newspaper, about the time when the +newly-opened highway to the West robbed Niagara +forever of her majestic solitude, and filled the world +with her praise. They may have been travelers' tales +that prompted, but it was the spiritual vision of the true +poet that inspired the lines printed in the <i>Connecticut +Mirror</i> at Hartford, about 1825, by the delicate, +gentle youth, John G. C. Brainard. It is a poem +much quoted, of a character fairly indicated by these +lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i12">It would seem<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As if God formed thee from his "hollow hand"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And hung his bow upon thine awful front;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And spoke in that loud voice, which seemed to him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who dwelt in Patmos for his Savior's sake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"The sound of many waters"; and bade<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thy flood to chronicle the ages back,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And notch his centuries in the eternal rocks.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Measured by the strength of an Emerson or a Lowell, +this is but feeble blank verse, approaching the +bombastic; but as compared with what had gone +before, and much that was to follow, on the Niagara +theme, it is a not unwelcome variation.</p> + +<p>The soul's vision, through imagination's magic glass, +receives more of Poesy's divine light than is shed upon +all the rapt gazers at the veritable cliff and falling flood.</p> + +<p>During the formative years of what we now regard +as an established literary taste, but which later generations +will modify in turn, most American poetry was +imitative of English models. Later, as has been +shown, there was an assertively patriotic era; and later +still, one of great laudation of America's newly-discovered +wonders, which in the case of Niagara took +the form of apostrophe and devotion. To the patriotic +literature of Niagara, besides examples already cited, +belongs Joseph Rodman Drake's "Niagara," printed +with "The Culprit Fay, and Other Poems" in 1835.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> +It is a poem which would strike the critical ear of +today, I think, as artificial; its sentiment, however, is +not to be impeached. The poet sings of the love of +freedom which distinguishes the Swiss mountaineer; +of the sailor's daring and bravery; of the soldier's hero<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>ism, +even to death. Niagara, like the alp, the sea, and +the battle, symbolizes freedom, triumph and glory:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Then pour thy broad wave like a flood from the heavens,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Each son that thou rearest, in the battle's wild shock,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When the death-speaking note of the trumpet is given,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Will charge like thy torrent or stand like thy rock.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Let his roof be the cloud and the rock be his pillow,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Let him stride the rough mountain or toss on the foam,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let him strike fast and well on the field or the billow,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">In triumph and glory for God and his home!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Nine years after Drake came Mrs. Sigourney, who, +notwithstanding her genuine love of nature and of +mankind, her sincerity and occasional genius, was +hopelessly of the sentimental school. Like Frances +S. Osgood, N. P. Willis and others now lost in even +deeper oblivion, she found great favor with her day +and generation. Few things from her ever-productive +pen had a warmer welcome than the lines beginning:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Up to the table-rock, where the great flood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Reveals its fullest glory,<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">and her "Farewell to Niagara," concluding</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">... it were sweet<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To linger here, and be thy worshipper,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Until death's footstep broke this dream of life.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Supremely devout in tone, her Niagara poems are +commonplace in imagination. Her fancy rarely reaches +higher than the perfectly obvious. I confess that I +cannot read her lines without a vision of the lady herself +standing in rapt attitude on the edge of Table +Rock, with note-book in hand and pencil uplifted to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +catch the purest inspiration from the scene before her. +She is the type of a considerable train of writers whose +Niagara effusions leave on the reader's mind little impression +beyond an iterated "Oh, thou great Niagara, +Oh!" Such a one was Richard Kelsey, whose +"Niagara and Other Poems," printed in London in +1848, is likely to be encountered in old London bookshops. +I have read Mr. Kelsey's "Niagara" several +times. Once when I first secured the handsome gilt-edged +volume; again, later on, to discover why I failed +to remember any word or thought of it; and again, in +the preparation of this paper, that I might justly characterize +it. But I am free to confess that beyond a +general impression of Parnassian attitudinizing and +extravagant apostrophe I get nothing out of its pages. +Decidedly better are the lines "On Visiting the Falls +of Niagara," by Lord Morpeth, the Earl of Carlisle, +who visited Niagara in 1841.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> He, too, begins with +the inevitable apostrophe:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There's nothing great or bright, thou glorious fall!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou mayst not to the fancy's sense recall—<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">but he saves himself with a fairly creditable sentiment:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh! may the wars that madden in thy deeps<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There spend their rage nor climb the encircling steeps,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And till the conflict of thy surges cease<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The nations on thy bank repose in peace.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A British poet who should perhaps have mention in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +this connection is Thomas Campbell, whose poem, +"The Emigrant," contains an allusion to Niagara. It +was published anonymously in 1823 in the <i>New Monthly +Magazine</i>, which Campbell then edited.<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p> + +<p>No poem on Niagara that I know of is more entitled +to our respectful consideration than the elaborate work +which was published in 1848 by the Rev. C. H. A. +Bulkley of Mt. Morris, N. Y. It is a serious attempt to +produce a great poem with Niagara Falls as its theme. +Its length—about 3,600 lines—secures to Western +New York the palm for elaborate treatment of the cataract +in verse. "Much," says the author, "has been +written hitherto upon Niagara in fugitive verse, but no +attempt like this has been made to present its united +wonders as the theme of a single poem. It seems a bold +adventure and one too hazardous, because of the greatness +of the subject and the obscurity of the bard; but +his countrymen are called upon to judge it with impartiality, +and pronounce its life or its death. The +author would not shrink from criticism.... His +object has been, not so much to describe at length +the scenery of Niagara in order to excite emotions in +the reader similar to those of the beholder, for this +would be a vain endeavor, as to give a transcript of +what passes through the mind of one who is supposed +to witness so grand an achievement of nature. The +difficulty," he adds, "with those who visit this wonderful +cataract is to give utterance to those feelings and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +thoughts that crowd within and often, because thus pent +up, produce what may be termed the pain of delight."</p> + +<p>Of a poem which fills 132 duodecimo pages it is +difficult to give a fair idea in a few words. There is an +introductory apostrophe, followed by a specific apostrophe +to the falls as a vast form of life. Farther on the +cataract is apostrophized as a destroyer, as an historian, +a warning prophet, an oracle of truth, a tireless laborer. +There are many passages descriptive of the islands, the +gorge, the whirlpool, etc. Then come more apostrophes +to the fall respecting its origin and early life. +It is viewed as the presence-chamber of God, and as a +proof of Deity. Finally, we have the cataract's hymn +to the Creator, and the flood's death-dirge.</p> + +<p>No long poem is without its commonplace intervals. +Mr. Bulkley's "Niagara" has them to excess, yet as a +whole it is the work of a refined and scholarly mind, its +imagination hampered by its religious habit, but now +and than quickened to lofty flights, and strikingly sustained +and noble in its diction. Only a true poet takes +such cognizance of initial impulses and relations in nature +as this:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In thy hoarse strains is heard the desolate wail<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of streams unnumbered wandering far away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From mountain homes where, 'neath the shady rocks<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their parent springs gave them a peaceful birth.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>It presents many of the elements of a great poem, +reaching the climax in the cataract's hymn to the +Creator, beginning</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh mighty Architect of Nature's home!<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p> +<p>At about this period—to be exact, in 1848—there +was published in New York City, as a pamphlet or +thin booklet, a poem entitled "Niagara," by "A +Member of the Ohio Bar," of whose identity I know +nothing. It is a composition of some merit, chiefly +interesting by reason of its concluding lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i10">... Then so live,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That when in the last fearful mortal hour,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thy wave, borne on at unexpected speed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O'erhangs the yawning chasm, soon to fall,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou start not back affrighted, like a youth<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That wakes from sleep to find his feeble bark<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Suspended o'er Niagara, and with shrieks<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And unavailing cries alarms the air,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tossing his hands in frenzied fear a moment,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then borne away forever! But with gaze<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Calm and serene look through the eddying mists,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On Faith's unclouded bow, and take thy plunge<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As one whose Father's arms are stretched beneath,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who falls into the bosom of his God!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The close parallelism of these lines with the exalted +conclusion of "Thanatopsis" is of course obvious; +but they embody a symbolism which is one of the best +that has been suggested by Niagara.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>From the sublime to the ridiculous was never a +shorter descent than in this matter of Niagara poetry. +At about the time Mr. Bulkley wrote, and for some +years after, it was the pernicious custom to keep public +albums at the Table Rock and other points at the +falls, for the record of "impressions." Needless to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +say, these albums filled up with rubbish. To bad taste +was added the iniquity of publication, so that future +generations may be acquainted with one of the least +creditable of native American literary whims. The +editor of one of these albums, issued in 1856, lamented +that "the innumerable host of visitors who have perpetrated +composition in the volumes of manuscript +now before us, should have added so little to the general +stock of legitimate and permanent literature"; +and he adds—by way seemingly of adequate excuse—that +"the actual amount of frivolous nonsense which +constitutes so large a portion of the contents ... +is not all to be calculated by the specimens now and +then exhibited. We have given the best," he says, +"always taking care that decency shall not be outraged, +nor delicacy shocked; and in this respect, however +improbable it may seem, precaution has been by no +means unnecessary." What a commentary on the sublime +in nature, as reflected on man in the mass!</p> + +<p>These Table-Rock Albums contain some true poetry; +much would-be fine verse which falls below mediocre; +much of horse-play or puerility; and now and then a +gleam of wit. Here first appeared the lines which +I remember to have conned years ago in a school-rhetoric, +and for which, I believe, N. P. Willis was +responsible:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To view Niagara Falls one day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A parson and a tailor took their way;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The parson cried, whilst wrapped in wonder,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And listening to the cataract's thunder,<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span><span class="i0">"Lord! how thy works amaze our eyes,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And fill our hearts with vast surprise";—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The tailor merely made his note:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Lord! what a place to sponge a coat!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>There has been many a visitor at Niagara Falls who +shares the sentiments of one disciple of the realistic +school:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Loud roars the waters, O,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Loud roars the waters, O,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When I come to the Falls again<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I hope they will not spatter so.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Another writes:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">My thoughts are strange, sublime and deep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As I look up to thee—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What a glorious place for washing sheep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Niagara would be!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Examples of such doggerel could be multiplied by +scores, but without profit. There was sense if not +poetry in the wight who wrote:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I have been to "Termination Rock"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where many have been before;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But as I can't describe the scene<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I wont say any more.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Infinitely better than this are the light but pleasing +verses written in a child's album, years ago, by the late +Col. Peter A. Porter of Niagara Falls. He pictured +the discovery of the falls by La Salle and Hennepin +and ponders upon the changes that have followed:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">What troops of tourists have encamped upon the river's brink;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What poets shed from countless quills Niagaras of ink;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">What artist armies tried to fix the evanescent bow<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the waters falling as they fell two hundred years ago.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +<span class="i0">And stately inns feed scores of guests from well-replenished larder,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And hackmen drive their horses hard, but drive a bargain harder,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And screaming locomotives rush in anger to and fro;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the waters fall as once they fell two hundred years ago.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And brides of every age and clime frequent the islands' bower,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And gaze from off the stone-built perch—hence called the Bridal Tower—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And many a lunar belle goes forth to meet a lunar beau,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By the waters falling as they fell two hundred years ago.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Towards the close of the long poem the author takes +a more serious tone, but throughout he keeps up a +happy cleverness, agreeably in contrast to the prevailing +high gush on one hand and balderdash on the other.</p> + +<p>Among the writers of serious and sometimes creditable +verse whose names appear in the Table-Rock +Albums were Henry D. O'Reilly, C. R. Rowland, +Sarah Pratt, Maria del Occidente, George Menzies, +Henry Lindsay, the Rev. John Dowling, J. S. Buckingham, +the Hon. C. N. Vivian, Douglas Stuart, A. S. +Ridgely of Baltimore, H. W. Parker, and Josef +Leopold Stiger. Several of these names are not unknown +in literature. Prof. Buckingham is remembered +as an earlier Bryce, whose elaborate three-volume +work on America is still of value. Vivian was a distinguished +traveler who wrote books; and Josef Leopold +Stiger's stanzas beginning</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sei mir gegrüsst, des jungen Weltreichs Stolz und Zierde!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">are by no means the worst of Niagara poems.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p> + +<p>I cannot conceive of Niagara Falls as a scene promotive +of humor, or suggestive of wit. Others may +see both in John G. Saxe's verses, of which the first +stanza will suffice to quote:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">See Niagara's torrent pour over the height,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">How rapid the stream! how majestic the flood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rolls on, and descends in the strength of his might,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">As a monstrous great frog leaps into the mud!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The "poem" contains six more stanzas of the same +stamp.</p> + +<p>The writing of jingles and doggerel having Niagara +as a theme did not cease when the Albums were no +longer kept up. If there is no humor or grotesqueness +in Niagara, there is much of both in the human accessories +with which the spot is constantly supplied, and +these will never cease to stimulate the wits. I believe +that a study of this field—not in a restricted, but a +general survey—would discover a decided improvement, +in taste if not in native wit, as compared with +the compositions which found favor half a century ago. +Without entering that field, however, it will suffice to +submit in evidence one "poem" from a recent publication, +which shows that the making of these American +<i>genre</i> sketches, with Niagara in the background, is not +yet a lost art:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Before Niagara Falls they stood,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">He raised aloft his head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For he was in poetic mood,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And this is what he said:<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Oh, work sublime! Oh, wondrous law<br /></span> +<span class="i1">That rules thy presence here!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How filled I am with boundless awe<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To view thy waters clear!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"What myriad rainbow colors float<br /></span> +<span class="i1">About thee like a veil,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in what countless streams remote<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Thy life has left its trail!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Yes, George," the maiden cried in haste,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">"Such shades I've never seen,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I'm going to have my next new waist<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The color of that green."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>From about 1850 down to the present hour there is +a striking dearth of verse, worthy to be called poetry, +with Niagara for its theme. Newspapers and magazines +would no doubt yield a store if they could be gleaned; +perchance the one Niagara pearl of poetry is thus +overlooked; but it is reasonably safe to assume that +few really great poems sink utterly from sight. There +is, or was, a self-styled Bard of Niagara, whose verses, +printed at Montreal in 1872, need not detain us. The +only long work on the subject of real merit that I know +of, which has appeared in recent years, is George +Houghton's "Niagara," published in 1882. Like Mr. +Bulkley, he has a true poet's grasp of the material +aspect of his subject:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Formed when the oceans were fashioned, when all the world was a workshop;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Loud roared the furnace fires and tall leapt the smoke from volcanoes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Scooped were round bowls for lakes and grooves for the sliding of rivers,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whilst with a cunning hand, the mountains were linked together.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then through the day-dawn, lurid with cloud, and rent by forked lightning,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stricken by earthquake beneath, above by the rattle of thunder,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sudden the clamor was pierced by a voice, deep-lunged and portentous—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thine, O Niagara, crying, "Now is creation completed!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>He sees in imagination the million sources of the +streams in forest and prairie, which ultimately pour +their gathered "tribute of silver" from the rich +Western land into the lap of Niagara. He makes +skillful use of the Indian legendry associated with the +river; he listens to Niagara's "dolorous fugue," and +resolves it into many contributory cries. In exquisite +fancy he listens to the incantation of the siren rapids:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thus, in some midnight obscure, bent down by the storm of temptation<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(So hath the wind, in the beechen wood, confided the story),<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pine trees, thrusting their way and trampling down one another,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Curious, lean and listen, replying in sobs and in whispers;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till of the secret possessed, which brings sure blight to the hearer<br /></span> +<span class="i0">(So hath the wind, in the beechen wood, confided the story),<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Faltering, they stagger brinkward—clutch at the roots of the grasses,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cry—a pitiful cry of remorse—and plunge down in the darkness.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The cataract in its varied aspects is considered with +a thought for those who</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sin, and with wine-cup deadened, scoff at the dread of hereafter,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, because all seems lost, besiege Death's door-way with gladness.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span></p> +<p>The master-stroke of the poem is in two lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">That alone is august which is gazed upon by the noble,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That alone is gladsome which eyes full of gladness discover.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Herein lies the rebuking judgment upon Niagara's detractors, +not all of whom have perpetrated album rhymes.</p> + +<p>Mr. Houghton, as the reader will note, recognizes +the tragic aspect of Niagara. Considering the insistence +with which accident and suicide attend, making +here an unappeased altar to the weaknesses and woes of +mankind, this aspect of Niagara has been singularly +neglected by the poets. We have it, however, exquisitely +expressed, in the best of all recent Niagara verse—a +sonnet entitled "At Niagara," by Richard Watson +Gilder.<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> The following lines illustrate our point:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There at the chasm's edge behold her lean<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Trembling, as, 'neath the charm,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A wild bird lifts no wing to 'scape from harm;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Her very soul drawn to the glittering, green,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Smooth, lustrous, awful, lovely curve of peril;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While far below the bending sea of beryl<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thunder and tumult—whence a billowy spray<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Enclouds the day.<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>There is a considerable amount of recent verse commonly +called "fugitive" that has Niagara for its theme, +but I find little that calls for special attention. A few +Buffalo writers, the Rev. John C. Lord, Judge Jesse +Walker, David Gray, Jas. W. Ward, Henry Chandler, +and the Rev. Benjamin Copeland among them, have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +found inspiration in the lake and river for some of the +best lines that adorn the purely local literature of the +Niagara region. Indeed, I know of no allusion to Niagara +more exquisitely poetical than the lines in David +Gray's historical poem, "The Last of the Kah-Kwahs," +in which he compares the Indian villages +sleeping in ever-threatened peace to</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">... the isle<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That, locked in wild Niagara's fierce embrace,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still wears a smile of summer on its face—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Love in the clasp of Madness.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>With this beautiful imagery in mind, recall the lines +of Byron:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">On the verge<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +<span class="i0">An Iris sits amidst the infernal surge<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Resembling, 'mid the tortures of the scene,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Love watching Madness with unalterable mien.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Byron did not write of Niagara, but these stanzas +beginning</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The roar of waters ...<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">often have been applied to our cataract. Mr. Gray +may or may not have been familiar with them. In any +event he improved on the earlier poet's figure.</p> + +<p>Merely as a matter of chronicle, it is well to record +here the names of several writers, some of them of +considerable reputation, who have contributed to +the poetry of Niagara. Alfred B. Street's well-known +narrative poem, "Frontenac," contains Niagara +passages. So does Levi Bishop's metrical volume<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> +"Teuchsa Grondie" ("Whip-poor-will"), the Niagara +portion dedicated to the Hon. Augustus S. Porter. +Ever since Chateaubriand wrote "Atala," authors +have been prompted to associate Indian legends with +Niagara, but none has done this more happily than +William Trumbull, whose poem, "The Legend of the +White Canoe," illustrated by F. V. Du Mond, is one of +the most artistic works in all the literature of Niagara.</p> + +<p>The Rev. William Ellery Channing, the Rev. Joseph +H. Clinch, the Rev. Joseph Cook, Christopher P. +Cranch, Oliver I. Taylor, Grenville Mellen, Prof. +Moffat, John Savage, Augustus N. Lowry, Claude James +Baxley of Virginia, Abraham Coles, M. D., Henry +Howard Brownell, the Rev. Roswell Park, Willis +Gaylord Clark, Mary J. Wines, M. E. Wood, E. H. +Dewart, G. W. Cutter, J. N. McJilton, and the +Chicago writer, Harriet Monroe, are, most of them, +minor poets (some, perhaps, but poets by courtesy), +whose tributes to our cataract are contained in their +collected volumes of verse. In E. G. Holland's +"Niagara and Other Poems" (1861), is a poem on +Niagara thirty-one pages long, with several pages of +notes, "composed for the most part by the Drachenfels, +one of the Seven Mountains of the Rhine, in the +vicinity of Bonn, September, 1856, and delivered as +a part of an address on American Scenery the day +following." Among the Canadian poets who have +attempted the theme, besides several already named, +may be recorded John Breakenridge, a volume of +whose verse was printed at Kingston in 1846; Charles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> +Sangster, James Breckenridge, John Imrie, and William +Rice, the last three of Toronto. The French-Canadian +poet, Louis Fréchette, has written an excellent +poem, "Le Niagara." Wm. Sharpe, M. D., +"of Ireland," wrote at length in verse on "Niagara +and Nature Worship." Charles Pelham Mulvaney +touches the region in his poem, "South Africa +Remembered at Niagara." One of the most striking +effusions on the subject comes from the successful +Australian writer, Douglas Sladen. It is entitled "To +the American Fall at Niagara," and is dated "Niagara, +Oct. 18, 1899":</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Niagara, national emblem! Cataract<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Born of the maddened rapids, sweeping down<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Direct, resistless from the abyss's crown<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Into the deep, fierce pool with vast impact<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Scarce broken by the giant boulders, stacked<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To meet thine onslaught, threatening to drown<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Each tillaged plain, each level-loving town<br /></span> +<span class="i0">'Twixt thee and ocean. Lo! the type exact!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">America Niagarized the world.<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Europe, a hundred years agone, beheld<br /></span> +<span class="i0">An avalanche, like pent-up Erie, hurled<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Through barriers, to which the rocks of eld<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seemed toy things—leaping into godlike space<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A sign and wonder to the human race.<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Friedrich Bodenstedt and Wilhelm Meister of +Germany, J. B. Scandella and the Rev. Santo Santelli +of Italy ("Cascada di Niagara," 1841), have place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> +among our Niagara poets. So, conspicuously, has +Juan Antonio Perez Bonalde, whose illustrated volume, +"El Poema del Niagara," dedicated to Emilio Castelar, +with a prose introduction of twenty-five pages by +the Cuban martyr José Martí, was published in New +York, reaching at least a second edition, in 1883. +Several Mexican poets have addressed themselves to +Niagara. "Á la Catarata del Niágara" is a sonnet by +Don Manuel Carpio, whose collected works have been +issued at Vera Cruz, Paris, and perhaps elsewhere. In +the dramatic works of Don Vincente Riva Palacio +and Don Juan A. Mateos is found "La Catarata del +Niágara," a three-act drama in verse; the first two +acts occur in Mexico, in the house of <i>Dona Rosa</i>, the +third act is at Niagara Falls, the time being 1847.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> +The Spanish poet Antonio Vinageras, nearly fifty years +ago, wrote a long ode on Niagara, dedicating it to +"la célebre poetisa, Doña Gertrudis Gomez de +Avellaneda." In no language is there a nobler poem +on Niagara than the familiar work by Maria José +Heredosia, translated from the Spanish by William +Cullen Bryant. The Comte de Fleury, who visited +Niagara a few years ago, left a somewhat poetical +souvenir in French verse. Fredrika Bremer, whose +prose is often unmetered poetry even after translation, +wrote of Niagara in a brief poem. The following is +a close paraphrase of the Swedish original:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Niagara is the betrothal of Earth's life<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With the Heavenly life.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span><span class="i0">That has Niagara told me to-day.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And now can I leave Niagara. She has<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Told me her word of primeval being.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Another Scandinavian poet, John Nyborn, has written +a meritorious poem on Niagara Falls, an adaptation +of which, in English, was published some years since +by Dr. Albin Bernays.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It is a striking fact that Niagara's stimulus to the +poetic mind has been quite as often through the ear as +through the eye. The best passages of the best poems +are prompted by the sound of the falling waters, rather +than by the expanse of the flood, the height of cliffs, +or the play of light. In Mr. Bulkley's work, which +indeed exhausts the whole store of simile and comparison, +we perpetually hear the voice of the falls, the +myriad voices of nature, the awful voice of God.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Minstrel of the Floods,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">he cries:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">What pæans full of triumph dost thou hymn!<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +<span class="i0">However varied is the rhythm sweet<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of thine unceasing song! The ripple oft<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Astray along thy banks a lyric is<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of love; the cool drops trickling down thy sides<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are gentle sonnets; and thy lesser falls<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are strains elegiac, that sadly sound<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A monody of grief; thy whirlpool fierce,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A shrill-toned battle-song; thy river's rush<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A strain heroic with its couplet rhymes;<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><b>. . . . . . .</b><br /></span> +<span class="i0">While the full sweep of thy close-crowded tide<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Resounds supreme o'er all, an epic grand.<br /></span> +</div></div> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p> +<p>Of this class, too, is the "Apostrophe to Niagara," +by one B. Frank Palmer, in 1855. It is said to have +been "written with the pencil in a few minutes, the +author seated on the bank, drenched, from the mighty +bath at Termination Rock, and still listening to the +roar and feeling the eternal jar of the cataract." The +Rev. T. Starr King, upon reading it in 1855, said: +"The apostrophe has the music of Niagara in it." +As a typical example of the devotional apostrophe it +is perhaps well to give it in full:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">This is Jehovah's fullest organ strain!<br /></span> +<span class="i1">I hear the liquid music rolling, breaking.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From the gigantic pipes the great refrain<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Bursts on my ravished ear, high thoughts awaking!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The low sub-bass, uprising from the deep,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Swells the great pæan as it rolls supernal—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Anon, I hear, at one majestic sweep<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The diapason of the keys eternal!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Standing beneath Niagara's angry flood—<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The thundering cataract above me bounding—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I hear the echo: "Man, there is a God!"<br /></span> +<span class="i1">From the great arches of the gorge resounding!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Behold, O man! nor shrink aghast in fear!<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Survey the vortex boiling deep before thee!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Hand that ope'd the liquid gateway here<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Hath set the beauteous bow of promise o'er thee!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Here, in the hollow of that Mighty Hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Which holds the basin of the tidal ocean,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let not the jarring of the spray-washed strand<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Disturb the orisons of pure devotion.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Roll on, Niagara! great River King!<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Beneath thy sceptre all earth's rulers, mortal,<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span><span class="i0">Bow reverently; and bards shall ever sing<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The matchless grandeur of thy peerless portal!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I hear, Niagara, in this grand strain,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">His voice, who speaks in flood, in flame and thunder—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Forever mayst thou, singing, roll and reign—<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Earth's grand, sublime, supreme, supernal wonder.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Such lines as these—which might be many times +multiplied—recall Eugene Thayer's ingenious and +highly poetic paper on "The Music of Niagara."<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> +Indeed, many of the prose writers, as well as the versifiers, +have found their best tribute to Niagara inspired +by the mere sound of falling waters.</p> + +<p>That Niagara's supreme appeal to the emotions is not +through the eye but through the ear, finds a striking +illustration in "Thoughts on Niagara," a poem of +about eighty lines written prior to 1854 by Michael +McGuire, a blind man.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> Here was one whose only +impressions of the cataract came through senses other +than that of sight. As is usual with the blind, he uses +phrases that imply consciousness of light; yet to him, +as to other poets whose devotional natures respond to +this exhibition of natural laws, all the phenomena +merge in "the voice of God":</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I stood where swift Niagara pours its flood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Into the darksome caverns where it falls,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And heard its voice, as voice of God, proclaim<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The power of Him, who let it on its course<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Commence, with the green earth's first creation;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And I was where the atmosphere shed tears,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">As giving back the drops the waters wept,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On reaching that great sepulchre of floods,—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or bringing from above the bow of God,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To plant its beauties in the pearly spray.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And as I stood and heard, <i>though seeing nought</i>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sad thoughts took deep possession of my mind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And rude imagination venturing forth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Did toil to pencil, though in vain, that scene,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which, in its every feature, spoke of God.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The poem, which as a whole is far above commonplace, +develops a pathetic prayer for sight; and employs +much exalted imagery attuned to the central idea +that here Omnipotence speaks without ceasing; here is</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A temple, where Jehovah is felt most.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But for the most part, the world's strong singers have +passed Niagara by; nor has Niagara's newest aspect, +that of a vast engine of energy to be used for the good +of man, yet found worthy recognition by any poet of +potentials.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>This survey, though incomplete, is yet sufficiently +comprehensive to warrant a few conclusions. More +than half of all the verse on the subject which I have +examined was written during the second quarter of this +century. The first quarter, as has been shown, was +the age of Niagara's literary discovery, and produced +a few chronicles of curious interest. During the last +half of the century—the time in which practically the +whole brilliant and substantial fabric of American liter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>ature +has been created—Niagara well-nigh has been +ignored by the poets. In all our list, Goldsmith and +Moore are the British writers of chief eminence who +have touched the subject in verse, though many British +poets, from Edwin Arnold to Oscar Wilde, have written +poetic prose about Niagara. Of native Americans, I +have found no names in the list of Niagara singers +greater than those of Drake and Mrs. Sigourney. +Emerson nor Lowell, Whittier nor Longfellow, Holmes +nor Stedman, has given our Niagara wonder the dowry +of a single line. Whitman, indeed, alludes to Niagara +in his poem "By Blue Ontario's Shore," but +his poetic vision makes no pause at the falls; nor +does that of Joseph O'Connor, who in his stirring and +exalted Columbian poem, "The Philosophy of America," +finds a touch of color for his continental cosmorama +by letting his sweeping glance fall for a +moment,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">To where, 'twixt Erie and Ontario,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leaps green Niagara with a giant roar.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But in such a symphony as his, Niagara is a subservient +element, not the dominating theme. Most of the +Niagara poets have been of local repute, unknown to +fame.</p> + +<p>What, then, must we conclude? Shall we say with +Martin Farquhar Tupper—who has contributed to the +alleged poetry of the place—that there is nothing sublime +about Niagara? The many poetic and impassioned +passages in prose descriptions are against such a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +view. If dimensions, volume, exhibition of power, are +elements of sublimity, Niagara Falls are sublime. But +it cannot be said that superlative exhibitions of nature, +some essentially universal phenomena, like those of +the sea and sky, excepted, have been made the specific +subject of verse, with a high degree of success. The +reason is not far to seek, and lies in the inherent nature +of poetry. It is a chief essential of poetry that it express, +in imaginative form, the insight of the human +soul. The feeble poets who have addressed themselves +to Niagara have stopped, for the most part, with purely +objective utterance. In some few instances, as we have +seen, a truly subjective regard has given us noble lines.</p> + +<p>The poetic in nature is essentially independent of the +detail of natural phenomena. A waterfall 150 feet high +is not intrinsically any more poetic than one but half +that height; or a thunder-peal than the tinkle of a rill. +True poetry must be self-expression, as well as interpretive +of truths which are manifested through physical +phenomena. Hence it is in the nature of things that a +nameless brook shall have its Tennyson, or a Niagara +flow unsung.</p> + + + +<div class="footnotes"> +<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Often spelled "Daillon" or "d'Allion," the latter form suggesting +origin from the name of a place, as is common in the French. Charlevoix +sometimes wrongly has it "de Dallion." I follow the spelling as given in +the priest's own signature to a letter to a friend in Paris, dated at "Tonachain +[Toanchain], Huron village, this 18th July, 1627," and signed +"Joseph De La Roche Dallion." The student of seventeenth-century +history need not be reminded that little uniformity in the spelling of proper +names can be looked for, either in printed books or manuscripts. In +French, as in English, men spelled their names in different ways—Shakespeare, +it is said, achieving thirty-nine variations. The matter bears on +our present study because the diversity of spelling may involve the young +student in perplexity. Thus, the name of the priests Lalemant (there +were three of them) is given by Le Clercq as "Lallemant," by Charlevoix +(a much later historian) as "Lallemant" or "Lalemant," but in the contemporary +"Relations" of 1641-'42 as "Lallemant," "Lalemant" or +"L'allemant." Many other names are equally variable, changes due to +elision being sometimes, but not always, indicated by accents, as "Bruslé," +"Brûlé." Thus we have "Jolliet" or "Joliet," "De Gallinée" or "De +Galinée," "Du Lu," "Du Luth," "Duluth," etc. When we turn to +modern English, the confusion is much—and needlessly—increased. Dr. +Shea, the learned translator and editor of Le Clercq, apparently aimed to +put all the names into English, without accents. Parkman, or his publishers, +have been guilty of many inconsistencies, now speaking of "Brébeuf," +now of "Brebeuf," and changing "Le Clercq" to "Le Clerc." The +"Historical Writings" of Buffalo's pre-eminent student in this field, +Orsamus H. Marshall, share with many less valuable works—the present, +no doubt, among them—these inconsistencies of style in the use of proper +names.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Mr. Consul W. Butterfield, whose "History of Brûlé's Discoveries and +Explorations, 1610-1626," has appeared since the above was written, is of +opinion that Brûlé did not visit the falls, nor gain any particular knowledge +of Lake Erie, as that lake is not shown on Champlain's map of 1632; +but that he and his Indian escort crossed the Niagara near Lake Ontario, +"into what is now Western New York, in the present county of Niagara," +and that "the journey was doubtless pursued through what are now the +counties of Erie, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston, Steuben and Chemung +into Tioga," and thence down the Susquehanna. It is probable that +Brûlé's party would follow existing trails, and one of the best defined +trails, at a later period when the Senecas occupied the country as far west +as the Niagara, followed this easterly course; but there were other trails, +one of which lay along the east bank of the Niagara. So long as we have +no other original source of information except Champlain, Sagard and Le +Caron, none of whom has left any explicit record of Brûlé's journeyings +hereabouts, so long must his exact path in the Niagara region remain +untraced.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> "Brehan de Gallinée," in Margry. Shea has it "Brehaut de Galinée."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Why Joliet left the Lake Erie route on his way east, for one much more +difficult, has been a matter of some discussion. According to the Abbé +Galinée, he was induced to turn aside by an Iroquois Indian who had been +a prisoner among the Ottawas. Joliet persuaded the Ottawas to let this +prisoner return with him. As they drew near the Niagara the Iroquois +became afraid lest he should fall into the hands of the ancient enemies of +the Iroquois, the Andastes, although the habitat of that people is usually +given as from about the site of Buffalo to the west and southwest. At +any rate it was the representations of this Iroquois prisoner and guide +which apparently turned Joliet into the Grand River and kept him away +from the Niagara. The paragraph in de Galinée bearing on the matter is +as follows: +</p><p> +"Ce fut cet Iroquois qui montra à M. Jolliet un nouveau chemin que les +François n'avoient point sceu jusques alors pour revenir des Outaouacs dans +le pays des Iroquois. Cependant la crainte que ce sauvage eut de retomber +entre les mains des Antastoes luy fit dire à M. Jolliet qu'il falloit qu'il quittast +son canot et marchast par terre plustost qu'il n'eust fallu, et mesme sans +cette terreur du sauvage, M. Jolliet eust pu venir par eau jusques dans le +lac Ontario, en faisant un portage de demi-lieue pour éviter le grand sault +dont j'ay déjà parlé, mais entin il fut obligé par son guide de faire +cinquante lieues par terre, et abandonner son canot sur lebord du lac Erié." +</p><p> +It is singular that so important a relation in the history of our region +has never been published in English. De Galinée's original MS. Journal is +preserved in the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris. It was first printed in +French by M. Pierre Margry in 1879; but five years prior to that date Mr. +O. H. Marshall of Buffalo, having been granted access to M. Margry's +MS. copy, made extracts, which were printed in English in 1874. These +were only a small portion of the Abbé's valuable record. The Ontario +Historical Society has for some time contemplated the translation and +publication of the complete Journal—a work which students of the early +history of the lake region will hope soon to see accomplished.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Probably that now known as Patterson's Creek.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> A minot is an old French measure; about three bushels.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Evidently at Four or Six Mile Creek.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Probably what the English call scurvy-grass.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Otherwise Fort Frontenac, now Kingston, Ont.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Sullivan to Jay, Teaogo (Tioga), Sept. 30, 1779.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> I first struck the trail in London, among the Colonial Papers preserved +in the Public Records Office. Subsequently, in the Archives Department +at Ottawa, I found that trail broaden into a fair highway. Something +has been gleaned at Albany; more, no doubt, is to be looked for at +Washington; but it is an amazing fact that our Government is far less +liberal in granting access for students to its official records than is either +England or Canada. But the Niagara region was British during the Revolution, +and its history is chiefly to be sought in British archives. Especially +in the Haldimand Papers, preserved in the British Museum, but of +which verified copies are readily accessible in the Archives at Ottawa, is +the Revolutionary history of the Niagara to be found. Besides the 232 +great volumes in which these papers are gathered, there are thousands of +other MSS. of value to an inquirer seeking the history of this region; especially +the correspondence, during all that term of years, between the commandants +at Fort Niagara and other upper lake posts, and the Commander in +Chief of the British forces in America; between that general and the Ministry +in London, and between the commandants at the posts and the Indian +agents, fur traders and many classes and conditions of men. For the +incidents here recorded I have drawn, almost exclusively, on these unpublished +sources.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> A snow is a three-masted craft, the smallest mast abaft the mainmast +being rigged with a try-sail. Possibly, on the lakes where shipyards were +primitive, this type was not always adhered to; but the correspondence +and orders of the period under notice carefully discriminate between +snows and schooners.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> See "What Befel David Ogden," in this volume.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> "A Narrative of the Captivity and Sufferings of Benjamin Gilbert and +his Family; Who were surprised by the Indians, and taken from their +Farms, on the Frontiers of Pennsylvania, in the Spring, 1780. Philadelphia: +Printed and sold by Joseph Crukshank, in Market-street, between +Second and Third-streets. M DCC LXXXIV." 12mo, pp. iv-96. +It was reprinted in London (12mo, pp. 123) in 1785, and again (12mo, pp. +124, "Reprinted and sold by James Phillips, George-Yard, Lombard +street") in 1790. A "third edition, revised and enlarged," 16mo, pp. 240, +bears date Philadelphia, 1848. Of a later edition (8vo, pp. 38, Lancaster, +Pa., 1890) privately printed, only 150 copies were issued. The work was +written by William Walton, to whom the facts were told by the Gilberts +after their return. (Field.) Ketchum made some use of the "Narrative" +in his "Buffalo and the Senecas," as has Wm. Clement Bryant and +perhaps other local writers. See also "Account of Benjamin Gilbert," +Vol. III., Register of Pennsylvania. A reissue of the original work, +carefully edited, would not only be a useful book for students of the +history of Buffalo and the Niagara region, but would offer much in the +way of extraordinary adventure for the edification of "the general +reader."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Ketchum says he could not have done so. ("History of Buffalo," Vol. +I., p. 328.) But Ketchum was misled, as many writers have been in ascribing +the leadership to Brant. My assertion rests on the evidence of +contemporary documents in the Archives at Ottawa, especially the MS. +"Anecdotes of Capt. Joseph Brant, Niagara, 1778," in the handwriting of +Col. Daniel Claus. Wm. Clement Bryant published a part of it in his +"Captain Brant and the Old King,"<i> q. v.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> What became of all the scalps brought in to Fort Niagara during these +years, and delivered up to the British officers, if not for pay, certainly +for presents? The human scalp, properly dried, is not readily perishable, +if cared for. Very many of them—from youthful heads or those white +with age, the long tresses of women and the soft ringlets of children—became +the property of officers at this post. Little is said on this subject +in the correspondence; we do not see them with flags and other trophies +in the cathedrals and museums of England. What became of them?</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> In another letter to Lord George Germaine, dated Nov. 20, 1780, we +have a few additional particulars. It is probably the fullest account of +this calamity in existence. "It is with great concern," wrote Haldimand, +"I acquaint your Lordship of a most unfortunate event which is just +reported to me to have happened upon Lake Ontario about the 1st. +[Nov., 1780.] A very fine snow [schooner] carrying 16 guns, which was +built last winter, sailed the 31st ultimo from Niagara and was seen several +times the same day near the north shore. The next day it blew very hard, +and the vessel's boats, binnacle, gratings, some hats, etc., were found upon +the opposite shore, the wind having changed suddenly, by Lt. Col. Butler +about forty miles from Niagara, on his way from Oswego, so there cannot +be a doubt that she is totally lost and her crew, consisting of forty seamen, +perished, together with Lt. Col. Bolton of the King's Regiment, whom I +had permitted to leave Niagara on account of his bad state of health, Lt. +Colleton of the Royal Artillery, Lt. Royce and thirty men of the 34th Regiment, +who were crossing the lake to reinforce Carleton Island. Capt. +Andrews who commanded the vessel and the naval armament upon that +lake was a most zealous, active, intelligent officer. The loss of so many +good officers and men is much aggravated by the consequences that will +follow this misfortune in the disappointment of conveying provisions +across the lake for the garrison of Niagara and Detroit, which are not +near completed for the winter consumption, and there is not a possibility +of affording them much assistance with the vessels that remain, it being +dangerous to navigate the lake later than the 20th inst., particularly as the +large vessels are almost worn out. The master builder and carpenters are +sent off to repair this evil."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> "The Falls of Niagara, or Tourist's Guide," etc., by S. De Veaux. +Buffalo, 1839.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Capt. Parrish became Indian agent, but Capt. Jones held the office of +interpreter for many years. "Their councils [with the Indians] were held +at a council house belonging to the Senecas situated a few rods east of the +bend in the road just this side of the red bridge across Buffalo Creek on +the Aurora Plank Road, then little more than an Indian trail; but much of +their business was transacted at the store of Hart & Lay, situated on the +west side of Main Street, midway between Swan and Erie streets, and on +the common opposite, then known as Ellicott Square."—MS. narrative +of Capt. Jones's captivity, by Orlando Allen, in possession of William L. +Bryant of Buffalo. Horatio Jones was captured about 1777 near Bedford, +Pa., being aged 14; was taken to a town on the Genesee River, where he +ran the gauntlet, was adopted, and lived with the Indians until liberated +by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. The MS. narrative above quoted +is Orlando Allen's chronicle of facts given to him by Capts. Jones and +Parrish, and is of exceptional value.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Brig. Powell to Col. van Schaick, Feb. 13, 1780; Haldimand Papers, +"Correspondence relating to exchange of prisoners," etc., B. 175.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> I cannot better show the real state of affairs at Fort Niagara, towards +the close of the Revolutionary War, than by submitting the following +"Review of Col. Johnson's Transactions," which I copy from the Canadian +Archives. [Series B, Vol. 106, p. 123, <i>et seq.</i>] I do not know that it has ever +been printed. Obviously written at the instigation of Col. Johnson, it is +perhaps colored to justify his administrative conduct; but in any event it +is a most useful picture of conditions at the time. Except for some slight +changes in punctuation in order to make the meaning more readily +apparent, the statement is given verbatim: +</p><p class="ralign"> +<span class="smcap">Montreal</span>, 24th March, 1782. +</p><p> +Before Colonel Johnson arrived at Niagara in 1779 the Six Nations lived +in their original possession the nearest of which was about 100 and the +farthest about 300 miles from that post. Their warriors were called upon +as the service required parties, which in 1776 amounted to about 70 men, +and the expenses attending them and a few occasional meetings ought to +have been and he presumes were a mere Trifle when compared with what +must attend their situation when all [were] driven to Niagara, exposed to +every want, to every temptation and with every claim which their distinguished +sacrifices and the tenor of Soloman [solemn] Treaties had entitled +them to from Government. The years 1777 & 1778 exhibited only a +larger number occasionally employed and for their fidelity and attachment +to Government they were invaded in 1779 by a rebel army reported to be +from 5 to 600 men with a train of Artillery who forced them to retire to +Niagara leaving behind them very fine plantations of corn and vegetables, +with their cloathing, arms, silver works, Wampum Kettles and Implements +of Husbandry, the collection of ages of which were distroyed in a deliberate +manner and march of the rebels. Two villages only escaped that +were out of their route. +</p><p> +The Indians having always apprehended that their distinguished Loyalty +might draw some such calamity towards them had stipulated that under +such circumstances they effected [expected] to have their losses made up +as well as a liberal continuation of favors and to be supported at the expence +of Government till they could be reinstated in their former possessions. +They were accordingly advised to form camps around Niagara +which they were beginning to do at the time of Colonel Johnson's arrival +who found them much chagrined and prepared to reconcile them to their +disaster which he foresaw would be a work of time requiring great judgement +and address in effecting which he was afterwards successful beyond +his most sanguine expectations, and this was the state of the Indians at +Colonel Johnson's arrival. As to the state and regulation of Colonel Johnson's +offices and department at that period he found the duties performed +by 2 or three persons the rest little acquainted with them and considered as +less capable of learning them, and the whole number inadequate to that of +the Indians, and the then requisite calls of the service, and that it was +necessary after refusing the present wants of the Indians to keep their +minds occupied by constant military employment, all which he laid before +the Commander in Chief who frequently honoured his conduct with particular +approbation. +</p><p> +By His Instructions he was to apply to Lieut. Colonel Bolton, more +especially regarding the modes of this place and the public accounts &c +from whom he received no further information, than that they were kept, +and made up by the established house at that post, and consider of goods, +orders and all contingencies and disbursements for Indians, ranging +parties, Prisoners, &c. That they were generally arranged half yearly as +well as the nature of them and of the changeable people they had to deal +with would permit; that he believed many demands were therefore outstanding +and that he was glad to have done with passing [i. e., granting of +passes] as it was impossible for him or any person that had other duties to +discharge to give them much attention. At which Colonel Johnson expressed +his concern but was told that the house was established in the +business and thro' the impossibility of having proper circulating cash in +another channell they advanced all monies and settled all accounts and +that that mode had been found most eligable. Colonel Johnson thereupon +issued the best orders he could devise for the preventing abuses and the +better regulation of matters relating to goods payment of expenses, and +proceeding to the discharge of the principal objects of his duty, he, accordingly +to a plan long since proposed, formed the Indians into Companies +and by degrees taught them to feel the convenience of having officers set +apart to each, which they were soon not only reconciled to but highly +pleased with, by which means he gave some degree of method and form to +the most Independent race of the Indians, greatly facilitated all business +with them and by a prudent arrangement of his officers those who were +before uninformed became in a little time some of the most approved and +usefull persons in his department, being constantly quartered at such +places or sent on some services as tended most to their improvement and +the public advantage, whilst by spiriting up and employing the Indians +with constant party's along the frontiers from Fort Stanwix to Fort Pitt +he so harrassed the back settlements, as finally to drive numbers of them +from their plantation destroying their houses, mills, graneries, &c, frequently +defeating their scouting parties killing and captivating many of +their people amounting in the whole to near 900 and all this with few or +no instances of savage cruelty exclusive of what they performed when +assisted by His Majesty's Troops as will appear from his returns. By these +means he presented [? preserved] the spirit of the Indians and kept their +minds so occupied as to prevent their being disgusted at the want of Military +aid, which had been long their Topic and which could then be afforded +according to their requisitions; neither did he admit any point of negociation +during this period of peculiar hurry, for knowing the importance the +Oneidas &c., were off [of] to the rebels and the obstruction they gave to +all means of intelligence from that quarter, he sent a private Belt and +message on pretence of former Friendship for them, in consequence of +which he was shortly joined by 430 of them of [whom] 130 were men who +have since on all occasions peculiarly distinguished themselves, and after +defeating the rebel Invitation to the Indians he by the renewal of the great +covenant chain and war Belt which he sent thro' all the nations animation +to the most western Indians. +</p><p> +Soon after with intention to reduce the vast consumption of provisions, +he with much difficulty prevailed on part of the Indians to begin +some new plantation, that they might supply themselves with grain, &c; +but this being an object of the most serious and National concern, and +urged in the strongest terms by the commander-in-chief, Col. Johnson, +during the winter 1780, took indefatigable pains to persuade the whole +to remove and settle the ensuing season on advantageous terms. He had +himself visited for that purpose but finding that their treaties with and +expectations from Government, combined with their natural Indulgence +to render it a matter of infinite difficulty which would encrease by +delay and probably become unsurmountable he procured some grain from +Detroit and liberally rewarded the families of Influence at additional expence +to sett the example to the rest and assisted their beginning to prevent +a disappointment by which means he has enabled before the end of May +last to settle the whole about 3500 souls exclusive of those who had joined +the 2 farms that had not been distroyed by the rebels and thereby with a +little future assistance, and good management to create a saving of +£100,000 pr annum N. York currency at the rate of provision is worth there +to Government, together with a reduction of rum and of all Indian Expenses, +as will appear from the reduced accounts since these settlements +were made. The peculiar circumstances above mentioned and the constant +disappointment of goods from the Crown at the times they were +most wanted will easily account for the occasional expence. The house +which conducted the Business at Niagara was perpetually thronged +by Indians and others. Lieut. Colonel Bolton often sent verbal orders +for articles as did some other secretaries and sometimes necessity required +it and often they were charged and others substituted of equal +value with other irregularities, the consequence of a crew of Indians +before unknown, of an encrease of duties, and the necessity for sending +them to plant well satisfied. +</p><p> +The number of prisoners thrown upon Colonel Johnson from time to +time and of Indian Chiefs and their families about his quarters was attended +with vast trouble and an Expense which it was impossible to ascertain +with exactness and when he directed the moiety of certain articles of +consumption to be placed to the account of the Crown, he soon found +himself lower. The merchants have since been accused of fraud by a +clerk who lived some time with them, the investigation of which he was +called suddenly to attend and he now finds that many articles undoubtedly +issued have been placed to his account instead of their [the] Crown, +and many false and malicious insinuations circulated to the prejudice of his +character and his influence with the Indians which is rendered the more +injurious by his abrupt departure from the shortness of the time, which +did not permit his calling and explaining to the chiefs the reasons for his +leaving them as [he] undoubtedly should have done, and therefore, and +on every public account, his presence is not only effected [expected], but +is become more necessary among them than ever. This brief summary is +candidly prepared and is capable of sufficient proof and Illustration.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Site of Rome, N. Y.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Perhaps more correctly, according to eminent authority (Lewis H. +Morgan), "Ga-nun-da-sa-ga." It was one of the most important of the +Seneca towns, situated near the site of the present town of Geneva. Gen. +Sullivan destroyed it in September, 1779, and no attempt was ever made to +rebuild it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Except perhaps in the case of Capt. Alexander Harper and his party, +for whom the ordeal was made light, most of the Indians having been +enticed away from the vicinity of the fort; but this was apparently due to +Brant, rather than to the British.—<i>See</i> Ketchum's "History of Buffalo," +Vol. I., pp. 374, 375.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> I have followed the old narrative in the spelling of these Indian +names, which, no doubt, students of Indian linguistics will discover are +not wholly in accord with the genius of the Seneca tongue.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Ketchum gives Capt. Powell a better character than this incident +would indicate; and says that he "visited the prisoners among the +Senecas, at Buffalo Creek, several times during the time they remained +there, not only to encourage them by his counsel and sympathy, but to administer +to their necessities, and to procure their release; which was ultimately +accomplished, mainly through his efforts, assisted by other officers +at the fort, which [<i>sic</i>] the example and interest of Jane Moore, the Cherry +Valley captive had influenced to coöperate in this work of mercy." ["History +of Buffalo," Vol. I., p. 376.] I have adhered to the spirit and in part, +to the language, of Ogden's own narrative.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Address delivered at Fort Niagara, N. Y., at the celebration of the +centennial of British evacuation, August 11, 1896. Amplification on some +points, not possible in the brief time allotted for the spoken address on that +occasion, is here made in foot-notes.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> See Oliver Wendell Holmes's beautiful poem, "Francis Parkman," +read at the meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society in memory of +the historian, who died November 8, 1893.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> The first official step towards such fortification was taken by Frontenac. +On Nov. 14, 1674, he wrote to the Minister, Colbert: "Sieur Joliet +... has returned three months ago, and discovered some very fine +Countries, and a navigation so easy through the beautiful rivers he has +found, that a person can go from Lake Ontario and Fort Frontenac in a +bark to the Gulf of Mexico, there being only one carrying place, half a +league in length, where Lake Ontario communicates with Lake Erie. A +settlement would be made at this point and another bark built on Lake Erie. +These are projects which it will be possible to effect when Peace will be +firmly established, and whenever it will please the King to prosecute these +discoveries." [Paris Docs. I., N. Y. Colonial MSS.] Joliet, it must be +remembered, was never on the Niagara; whatever representations he +made to Frontenac regarding it were based on hearsay, very likely on +reports made to him by La Salle at their meeting in 1669; so that priority in +promoting the Niagara route reverts after all to that gallant adventurer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> In 1896.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> In the palisaded cabin on the site of Lewiston.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Father Watteaux (also spelled "Watteau," "Vatteaux," etc.) was +first only in the sense of being assigned to a located mission. "Father +Gabriel [de la Ribourde] was named Superior.... Father Melithon +was to remain at Niagara and make it his mission." (Le Clercq, Shea's +translation, Vol. I., p. 112.) "Father Melithon remained in the house at +Niagara with some laborers and clerks." (<i>Ib.</i>, p. 113.) This was in the +summer of 1679; but six months earlier mass had been celebrated on the +New York side of the Niagara by Father Hennepin.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> This statement, which I have elsewhere accepted (<i>See</i> "The Cross-Bearers," +p. 28 of this volume), is on the usually unimpeachable authority +of Dr. John Gilmary Shea, the historian of the Catholic Church in America. +(<i>See</i> "The Catholic Church in Colonial Days," p. 322.) I find, however, +on referring to the authorities on which Dr. Shea rests his statement +that the particular grant made on the date named—May 27, 1679—was +not at Niagara but at Fort Frontenac. (Hennepin, "Nouvelle Découverte," +p. 108.) At Frontenac La Salle had seigniorial rights, and could +pass title as he wished; but on the Niagara he had no right to confer +title, for he held no delegated power beyond the letters patent from the +King, which permitted him to explore and build forts, under certain +restrictions.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> This would seem to fix the date of the northeast blockhouse at 1790; +but on examination of other sources of information I discover strong evidence +that the original construction was earlier. The Duke de la Rochefoucault +Liancourt, who visited Fort Niagara in June, 1795, wrote: "All +the buildings, within the precincts of the fort, are of stone, and were built +by the French." ("Travels," etc., London ed., 1799, Vol. I., p. 257.) +This would make them antedate July, 1759, which is not true of the +bakehouse. The Duke may therefore have erred regarding other buildings, +the northeast blockhouse among them; yet had it been but four or +five years old, he would not be likely to attribute it to the French. +Pouchot's plan of the fort (1759) does not show it. I have seen the original +sketch of a plan in the British Museum, dated Niagara, 1773, which shows, +with several buildings long since destroyed, two constructions where the +blockhouses now stand, with this note: "Two stone redoubts built in 1770 +and 1771." An accompanying sketch of the southwest redoubt shows a +striking similarity to the southwest blockhouse as it now stands, although +a roadway ran through it and a gun was mounted on top. These redoubts +may have been remodeled by Gother Mann.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> Although I am aware that some American writers, and probably all +Canadian writers who touch the subject, are offering evidence that there +was no "massacre" at Wyoming, I still find in the details of that affair +what I regard as abundant warrant for the designation of "massacre."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Haldimand to T. Townshend, October 25, 1782.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Haldimand to Lord North, June 2, 1782. In the same letter he wrote +"I have lately received a letter from Brig.-Gen. Maclean who commands +at Niagara.... Affairs with the Indians are in a very critical state. +I have ordered and insisted upon Sir John Johnson's immediate departure +for Niagara in hopes that his influence may be of use in preventing the +bad consequences which may be apprehended. I have been assured by +the officers who brought me the accounts of the cessation of arms, via +New York, that Gen. Schuyler and the American officers made no secret +of their hostile intentions against the Indians and such Royalists as had +served amongst them. It is to be hoped that the American Congress will +adopt a line of conduct more consonant to humanity as well as Policy."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> The full story of the efforts of the United States Government to obtain +possession of Fort Niagara and the other posts on the northern frontier +would make a long chapter. I have barely touched a few features of it. +One episode was the mission of the Baron Steuben to Haldimand, to claim +the delivery of the posts. Washington selected Steuben because of his +appreciation of that general's tact and soundness of judgment in military +matters. The President's instructions under date of July 12, 1783, were +characteristically precise and judicious. Steuben was to procure from +General Haldimand, if possible, immediate cession of the posts; failing in +that, he was to get a pledge of an early cession; "but if this cannot be +done," wrote Washington, "you will endeavor to procure from him positive +and definite assurances, that he will as soon as possible give information +of the time that shall be fixed on for the evacuation of these posts, and +that the troops of his Britannic Majesty shall not be drawn therefrom until +sufficient previous notice shall be given of that event; that the troops of +the United States may be ready to occupy the fortresses as soon as they +shall be abandoned by those of his Britannic Majesty." An exchange of +artillery and stores was also to be proposed. Having made these arrangements +with Haldimand, Steuben was to go to Oswego, thence to Niagara, +and after viewing the situation, and noting the strength and all the military +and strategic conditions, was to pass on to Detroit. Armed with these instructions +from the Commander-in-Chief, Steuben went to Canada, and on the +8th of August met Gen. Haldimand at Sorel. For once, the man who had +disciplined the American Army met his match. His report to Washington +indicates an uncommonly positive reception. +</p><p> +"To the first proposition which I had in charge to make," he wrote to +Washington, Aug. 23, 1783 ["Correspondence of the Revolution," IV., +41, 42], "Gen. Haldimand replied that he had not received any orders for +making the least arrangement for the evacuation of a single post; that he +had only received orders to cease hostilities; those he had strictly complied +with, not only by restraining the British troops, but also the savages, +from committing the least hostile act; but that, until he should receive +positive orders for that purpose, he would not evacuate an inch of ground. +I informed him that I was not instructed to insist on an immediate evacuation +of the posts in question, but that I was ordered to demand a safe conduct +to, and a liberty of visiting the posts on our frontiers, and now +occupied by the British, that I might judge of the arrangements necessary +to be made for securing the interests of the United States. To this he +answered that the precaution was premature; that the peace was not yet +signed; that he was only authorized to cease hostilities; and that, in this +point of view, he could not permit that I should visit a single post occupied +by the British. Neither would he agree that any kind of negotiation +should take place between the United States and the Indians, if in his +power to prevent it, and that the door of communication should, on his +part, be shut, until he received positive orders from his court to open it. +My last proposal was that he should enter into an agreement to advise +Congress of the evacuation of the posts, three months previous to their +abandonment. This, for the reason before mentioned, he refused, declaring +that until the definite treaty should be signed, he would not enter into +any kind of agreement or negotiation whatever."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> The inability of the New York State Government to accomplish anything +in the matter at this time is illustrated by the following extract from +Gov. Clinton's speech to the Senate and Assembly, January 21, 1784: "You +will perceive from the communication which relates to the subject that I +have not been inattentive to the circumstances of the western posts within +this State. They are undoubtedly of great importance for the protection +of our trade and frontier settlements, and it was with concern I learnt +that the propositions made by the State for governing those posts were +not acceded to by Congress. It affords me, however, some satisfaction +to find that the Commander-in-Chief was in pursuit of measures for that +purpose, but my expostulations proved fruitless. The British commander +in that Department treating the Provisional Articles as a suspension of +hostilities only, declined to withdraw his garrisons and refused us even +to visit these posts. It is necessary for me to add that it will now be impracticable +to take possession of them until spring, and that I have no +reason to believe that Congress have, or are likely to make any provision +for the expense which will necessarily occur, it therefore remains for you +to take this interesting subject into your further consideration." +</p><p> +To this the Senate made answer: "The circumstances of our western +posts excite our anxiety. We shall make no comment on the conduct of +the British officer in Canada as explained by your Excellency's communication. +It would be in vain. Convinced that our frontier settlements, +slowly emerging from the utter ruin with which they were so lately overwhelmed, +and our fur trade which constitutes a valuable branch in our +remittances, will be protected by these posts, we shall adopt the best +measures in our power for their reëstablishment."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> "Lt.-Col. Fish," the Governor General's report continues, "gave me +the strongest assurances that the proceedings against the Loyalists were +disapproved by the leading men in the different States, and gave me a +recent instance of Gov. Clinton having [? saving] Capt. Moore [?] of the +53d Regiment from the insolence of the mob in New York."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> "Lt.-Col. Hull in the American service, arrived here on the 10th inst. +with a letter from Major Gen. Knox, dated New York the 13th June.... +I did not think myself, from the tenor of Yr Lordship's letter of the 8th of +April, authorized to give publicly, any reason for delaying the evacuation +of the Posts, tho' perhaps it might have had some effect in quickening the +efforts of Congress to produce the execution of the Article of the Difinitive +Treaty in favor of the Royalists, tho' I held the same private conversation +to Lt.-Col. Hull as I had to Lt.-Col. Fish."—Haldimand to Lord Sydney +Quebec, July 16, 1784.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Haldimand to Thos. Steile, Esq., of the Treasury; Quebec, Sept. 1, 1784.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> At the risk of overloading my pages with citations from this old correspondence, +I venture to give the following letter from Lord Dorchester to +Lt.-Gov. Simcoe, so admirably does it illustrate the British apprehensions +at the time. It is dated Quebec, Apr. 3, 1796: +</p><p> +"Circumstances have arisen, which will probably, for a time, delay the +evacuation of the Upper Posts, among which some relating to the interests +of the Indians do not appear the least important. By the 8th article of the +treaty entered into the 3d August last, between Mr. Wayne and them, +it is stipulated that no person shall be allowed to reside among or to trade +with these Indian tribes, unless they be furnished with a license from the +Government of the United States, and that every person so trading shall +be delivered up by the Indians to an American Superintendent, to be dealt +with according to law, which is inconsistent with the third article of the +Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation, previously concluded between +His Majesty and the United States by which it is agreed that 'it +shall at all times be free to His Majesty's subjects and to the citizens of the +United States and also to the Indians, dwelling on either side of the Boundary +Line, freely to <i>pass and repass</i>, by land or inland navigation, into the +respective territories and countries of the two parties on the Continent of +America (the country within the limits of the Hudson Bay Co. only excepted), +and to navigate the lakes, rivers and waters thereof, and freely to +carry on trade and commerce <i>with each other</i>.' +</p><p> +"Previously therefore to the actual execution of the treaty on our part, +it is requisite that we should be convinced that the stipulations entered into +by the United States will also be fulfilled by them; and on a point so +interesting to His Majesty's subjects and more especially to the Indians, +it is indispensably necessary that all doubts and misconceptions should +be removed. His Majesty's Minister at Philadelphia is accordingly instructed +to require an explanation on this subject. Till therefore the same +shall be satisfactorily terminated I shall delay the surrender of the Posts. +These matters you will be pleased to explain to the Indians, pointing out to +them at the same time the benevolent care and regard always manifested +towards them by the King their Father, and particularly the attention that +has been shown to their interests on the present occasion."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Dorchester to Robert Liston (British Minister at Philadelphia), June +6, 1796.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Under date of Niagara, August 6, 1796, Peter Russell wrote to the +Duke of Portland: "All the posts we held on the American side of the +line in the vicinity of this province, are given up to the United States +agreeable to the treaty, excepting that of Niagara, which remains occupied +by a small detachment from the 5th Regiment, until the garrison they have +ordered thither may arrive from Oswego. And I understand that they +have not yet taken possession of Michillimackinac from the want of provisions. +I have directed the officers commanding his Majesty's troops in +this Province to make me a return of the effective number that may remain +after the departure of the 5th and 24th Regiments, and of their distribution." +On August 20th he wrote: "The Fort of Niagara was delivered +up to a detachment of troops belonging to the United States of America +on the 11th inst. and the guard left in it by the 5th Regiment has sailed for +Lower Canada." Mackinac, the last of the posts to be surrendered, +did not pass into the hands of the Americans until the following October.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> This must not be confounded with the wreck of the steamer President, +which was never heard from after the storm of March 13, 1841. The +President of which Mr. Lay wrote was obviously a bark, ship, or other +sailing craft.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> In one Canadian work, John Charles Dent's "Story of the Upper Canadian +Rebellion," statements are printed to show that the Caroline did not +go over the falls, but that her hull sank in shallow water not far below the +Schlosser landing. There is however a mass of evidence to other effect. +It is striking that so sensational an episode, happening within the memory +of many men yet living, should be thus befogged. The contemporary +accounts which were published in American newspapers were wildly +exaggerated, one report making the loss of life exceed ninety. (There +was but one man killed.) Mackenzie himself is said to have spread these +extravagant reports. He had a gift for the sort of journalism which in +this later day is called "yellow," a chief iniquity of which is its wanton +perversion of contemporary record, and the ultimate confusion of history.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> By the end of December, 1837, about 600 men had resorted to Navy +Island in the guise of "Patriots." Although this number was later +somewhat increased, the entire "army" at that point probably never +numbered 1,000.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> There were about 150 Patriots, claiming to be citizens of the United +States, who were taken prisoners in Upper Canada, and transported to +Van Dieman's Land. Among those taken near Windsor, besides Marsh, +were Ezra Horton, Joseph Horton and John Simons of Buffalo, John W. +Simmons and Truman Woodbury of Lockport. Taken at Windmill Point, +near Prescott, was Asa M. Richardson of Buffalo. Taken at Short Hills, +Welland Co., was Linus W. Miller of Chautauqua Co., who afterwards +wrote a book on the rebellion and his exile; and Benjamin Waite, whose +"Letters from Van Dieman's Land" were published in Buffalo in 1843. +Waite died at Grand Rapids, Mich., Nov. 9, 1895, aged eighty-two. It is +not unlikely that some Americans who underwent that exile are still living. +I have seen no list of Americans captured during the outbreak in +Lower Canada.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> <i>See</i> "Reminiscences of Levi Coffin," p. 253.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> <i>See</i> "John Brown and His Men," p. 171.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> <i>See</i> Siebert's "The Underground Railroad," pp. 35, 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> "Narrative of William W. Brown," 1848, pp. 107, 108. Quoted by +Siebert.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> There is a considerable literature on the specific subject of the Underground +Railroad, and a great deal more relating to it is to be found in +works dealing more broadly with slavery, and the political history of our +country. Of especial local interest is Eber M. Pettit's "Sketches in the +History of the Underground Railroad," etc., Fredonia, 1879. The author, +"for many years a conductor on the Underground Railroad line from +slavery to freedom," has recorded many episodes in which the fugitives +were brought to Buffalo, Black Rock, or Niagara Falls, and gives valuable +and interesting data regarding the routes and men who operated them in +Western New York and Western Pennsylvania.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> I have drawn these facts from Mrs. Jameson's "Winter Studies and +Summer Rambles in Canada," published in London in 1838. Mrs. Jameson +was at Niagara in 1837, apparently during or soon after the riot. She +called on one of the negro women who had been foremost in the fray. +This woman was "apparently about five-and-twenty," had been a slave in +Virginia, but had run away at sixteen. This would indicate that she may +have come a refugee to the Niagara as early as 1828. William Kirby, in +his "Annals of Niagara," has told Moseby's story, with more detail than +Mrs. Jameson; he reports only one as killed in the <i>mêlée</i>—the schoolmaster +Holmes—and adds that "Moseby lived quietly the rest of his life in +St. Catharines and Niagara." Sir Francis Bond Head's official communication +to the Home Government regarding the matter reports two as +killed.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> <i>See</i> "A Narrative," by Sir Francis Bond Head, Bart., 2d ed., London, +1839, pp. 200-204.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> "Letters from the United States, Cuba and Canada," London, 1856, +p. 118.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> "Canada, Its Defences, Condition and Resources," by W. Howard +Russell, LL. D., London, 1865, pp. 33, 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Mr. Butler's name does not appear in Siebert's history, "The Underground +Railroad." The "operators" for Erie County named therein +(p. 414) are Gideon Barker, the Hon. Wm. Haywood, Geo. W. Johnson, +Deacon Henry Moore, and Messrs. Aldrich and Williams. For Niagara +County he names Thomas Binmore, W. H. Childs, M. C. Richardson, +Lyman Spaulding. Chautauqua and Wyoming counties present longer +lists, and thirty-six are named for Monroe County. As appears from my +text, the Erie County list could be extended.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> No doubt an investigator could find a number of former slaves, rich in +reminiscences of Underground days, still living in the villages and towns +of the Niagara Peninsula, though they would not be very numerous, for, +as Aunt Betsy says, "the old heads are 'bout all gone now." Between +Fort Erie and Ridgeway lives Daniel Woods, a former slave, who came by +the Underground. Harriet Black, a sister-in-law of Mrs. Robinson, still +living near Ridgeway, was also a "passenger." Probably others live at +St. Catharines, Niagara and other points of former negro settlement, who +could tell thrilling tales of their escape from the South. There are many +survivors on the Canada side of the Niagara, of another class; men or +women who were born in slavery but were "freed by the bayonet," and +came North with no fear of the slave-catchers. Of this class at Fort Erie +are Melford Harris and Thomas Banks. Mr. Banks was sold from Virginia +to go "down the river"; got his freedom at Natchez, joined the 102d +Michigan Infantry, and fought for the Union until the end of the war. +His case is probably typical of many, but does not belong to the records +of the Underground Railroad.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> H. Clay to Lewis L. Hodges; original letter in possession of the Buffalo +Historical Society.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Anonymous reminiscences published in the Buffalo Courier, about 1887.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Apparently the greatest travel, at least over these particular routes, +was during 1840-41. It was a justifiable boast of the "conductors" that a +"passenger" was never lost. In a journal of notes, which was annually +kept for many years by one of the zealous anti-slavery men of that day, +I find the following entry in 1841: "Nov. 1.—The week has been cold; +some hard freezing and snow; now warm; assisted six fugitives from +oppression, from this land of equal rights to the despotic government of +Great Britain, where they can enjoy their liberty. Last night put them on +board a steamboat and paid their passage to Buffalo."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> When I knew Frank Henry, he was light-house keeper at Erie. He +died in October, 1889, and his funeral was a memorable one. After the +body had been viewed by his friends, while it lay in state in the parlor of +his old home in Wesleyville, the casket was lifted to the shoulders of the +pall-bearers, who carried it through the streets of the little village to the +church, all the friends, which included all the villagers and many from the +city and the country round about, following in procession on foot. The +little church could not hold the assemblage, but the overflow waited until +the service was over, content, if near enough the windows or the open +door, to hear but a portion of the eulogies his beloved pastor pronounced. +Then they all proceeded to the graveyard behind the historic church and +laid him away. He was a man of an exceptionally frank and lovable +character. Prof. Wilbur H. Siebert mentions him in his history, "The +Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom"; but nowhere else, I +believe, is as much recorded of the work which he did for the refugee +slaves as in the incidents told in the following pages; and these, we may +be assured, are but examples of the service in which he was engaged +for a good many years.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Afterwards long known as the Lowry Mansion, on Second Street, +between French and Holland streets. It is still standing.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Capt. D. P. Dobbins was for many years a distinguished resident of +Buffalo. As vessel master, Government official, and especially as inventor +of the Dobbins life-boat, he acquired a wide reputation; but little has been +told of his Underground Railroad work. He died in 1892.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> I had the facts of this experience from Mr. Frank Henry, and first +wrote them out and printed them in the Erie Gazette in 1880. (Ah, Time, +why hasten so!) In 1894 H. U. Johnson of Orwell, O., published a +book entitled "From Dixie to Canada, Romances and Realities of the +Underground Railroad," in which a chapter is devoted to Jack Watson, +and this experience at the Wesleyville church is narrated, considerably +embellished, but in parts with striking similarity to the version for which +Frank Henry and I were responsible. Mr. Johnson gives no credit for his +facts to any source.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Such an one was the anti-slavery worker, Sallie Holley, who had formerly +taken great pleasure in the sermons of Mr. Fillmore's pastor, the +Rev. Dr. Hosmer of the Unitarian Church. When Mr. Fillmore returned +to Buffalo and was seen again in his accustomed seat, Miss Holley refused +to attend there. "I cannot consent," she wrote, "that my name shall +stand on the books of a church that will countenance voting for any pro-slavery +presidential candidate. Think of a woman-whipper and a baby-stealer +being countenanced as a Christian!"—<i>See</i> "A Life for Liberty," +edited by John White Chadwick, pp. 60, 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> <i>See</i> Seward's "Works," Vol. I., p. 65, <i>et seq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> <i>See</i> Chamberlain's "Biography of Millard Fillmore," p. 136.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> For the knowledge that the first mention of Niagara Falls is in Champlain's +"Des Sauvages," we are indebted to the Hon. Peter A. Porter of +Niagara Falls, who recently discovered, by comparison of early texts, +that the allusions to the falls in Marc Lescarbot's "Histoire de la Nouvelle +France" (1609), heretofore attributed to Jacques Cartier, are really quotations +from "Des Sauvages," published some five years before. There is, +apparently, no warrant for the oft-repeated statement that Cartier, in 1535, +was the first white man to hear of the falls. That distinction passes to +Champlain, who heard of them in 1603, and whose first book, printed at +the end of that year or early in 1604, gave to the world its first knowledge +of the great cataract.—<i>See</i> "Champlain not Cartier," by Peter A. Porter, +Niagara Falls, N. Y., 1899.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Champlain a bien été jusqu'à Mexico, comme on peut le voir dans son +voyage aux Indes Occidentales; mais il ne s'est pas rendu au Pérou, que +nous sachions.—<i>Note in Quebec reprint, 1870.</i> Nor had he been to +Niagara.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Mocosa est le nom ancien de la Virginie. Cette expression, <i>saults +Mocosans</i>, semble donner à entendre que, dès 1603 au moins, l'on avait +quelque connaissance de la grande chute de Niagara.—<i>Note in Quebec +reprint, 1870.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> "Lescarbot écrit, en 1610, une pièce de vers dans laquelle il parle des +grands sauts que les sauvages disent rencontrer en remontant le Saint-Laurent +jusqu'au voisinage de la Virginie."—<i>Benj. Sulte, "Mélanges +D'Histoire et de Litterature" p. 425.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> The pronunciation of "Niagara" here, the reader will remark, is necessarily +with the primary accent on the third syllable; the correct pronunciation, +as eminent authorities maintain; and, as I hold, the more musical. +"Ni-ag'-a-ra" gives us one hard syllable; "Ni [or better, -nee]-a-ga'-ra" +makes each syllable end in a vowel, and softens the word to the ear. +"Ni-ag'-a-ra" would have been impossible to the Iroquois tongue. But +the word is now too fixed in its perverted usage to make reform likely, and +we may expect to hear the harsh "Ni-ag'-a-ra" to the end of the chapter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Dr. Samuel Johnson, as is well known, was responsible for a number of +lines in "The Traveller." In the verses above quoted the line +</p> +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">"To stop too fearful and too faint to go"<br /></span> +</div> +<p class="noin">is attributed to him. Thus near does the mighty Johnson, the "Great +Cham of Literature," come to legitimate inclusion among the poets of +Niagara!</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> This is not necessarily hyperbole, by any means. Before the Niagara +region was much settled, filled with the din of towns, the roar of trains, +screech of whistles and all manner of ear-offending sounds, Niagara's voice +could be heard for many miles. Many early travelers testify to the same +effect as Moore. An early resident of Buffalo, the late Hon. Lewis F. +Allen, has told me that many a time, seated on the veranda of his house on +Niagara Street near Ferry, in the calm of a summer evening, he has +heard the roar of Niagara Falls.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Introduced in the Epistle to Lady Charlotte Rawdon. In Moore's day +there was a tiny islet, called Gull Island, near the edge of the Horseshoe +Fall. It long since disappeared.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> It had prior publication, serially, with illustrations, in the "Portfolio" +of Philadelphia, 1809-'10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Tom Moore's infantile criticisms of American institutions have often +been quoted with approbation by persons sharing his supposed hostile views. +What his maturer judgment was may be gathered from the following +extract from a letter which he wrote, July 12, 1818, to J. E. Hall, editor of +the "Portfolio," Philadelphia. I am not aware that it ever has been published. +I quote from the original manuscript, in my possession: +</p><p> +"You are mistaken in thinking that my present views of politics are a +<i>change</i> from those I formerly entertained. They are but a <i>return</i> to those +of my school & college days—to principles, of which I may say what +Propertius said of his mistress: <i>Cynthia prima fuit, Cynthia finis erit</i>. +The only thing that has ever made them <i>librate</i> in their <i>orbit</i> was that +foolish disgust I took at what I thought the <i>consequences</i> of democratic +principles in America—but I judged by the <i>abuse</i>, not the <i>use</i>—and the +little information I took the trouble of seeking came to me through twisted +and tainted channels—and, in short, I was a rash boy & made a fool of +myself. But, thank Heaven, I soon righted again, and I trust it was the +only deviation from the path of pure public feeling I ever shall have to reproach +myself with. I mean to take some opportunity (most probably in +the Life of Sheridan I am preparing) of telling the few to whom my +opinions can be of any importance, how much I regret & how sincerely +I retract every syllable, injurious to the great cause of Liberty, which my +hasty view of America & her society provoked me into uttering.... +</p><p> +"Always faithfully & cordially Yours, +</p><p class="ralign"> +"THOMAS MOORE." +</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> John Neal, or "Yankee Neal," as he was called, is a figure in early +American letters which should not be forgotten. He was of Quaker +descent, but was read out of the Society of Friends in his youth, as he +says, "for knocking a man head over heels, for writing a tragedy, for paying +a militia fine and for desiring to be turned out whether or no." He was +a pioneer in American literature, and won success at home and abroad +several years before Cooper became known. He was the first American +contributor to English and Scotch quarterlies, and compelled attention to +American topics at a time when English literature was regarded as the +monopoly of Great Britain. His career was exceedingly varied and picturesque. +He was an artist, lawyer, traveler, journalist and athlete. He +is said to have established the first gymnasium in this country, on foreign +models, and was the first to advocate, in 1838, in a Fourth-of-July oration, +the right of woman suffrage. His writings are many, varied, and for +the most part hard to find nowadays.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Those interested in scarce Americana may care to know that this +"Wonders of the West" is said by some authorities to be the second book—certain +almanacs and small prints excluded—that was published in Canada +West, now Ontario. Of its only predecessor, "St. Ursula's Convent, +or the Nuns of Canada," Kingston, 1824, no copy is believed to exist. +Of the York school-master's Niagara poem, I know of but two copies, +one owned by M. Phileas Gagnon, the Quebec bibliophile; the other in +my own possession. It is at least of interest to observe that Ontario's +native poetry began with a tribute to her greatest natural wonder, though +it could be wished with a more creditable example.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> It is a striking fact that "The Culprit Fay," which appeared in 1819, +was the outgrowth of a conversation between Drake, Halleck and Cooper, +concerning the unsung poetry of American rivers.—<i>See</i> Richardson's +"American Literature," Vol. II., p. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Lord Morpeth made three visits to Niagara. He was the friend and +guest, during his American travels, of Mr. Wadsworth at the Geneseo +Homestead; and was also entertained by ex-President Van Buren and +other distinguished men. His writings reveal a poetic, reflective temperament, +but rarely rise above the commonplace in thought or expression.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> The lines are not included in ordinary editions of Campbell's poems. +The original MS. is in the possession of the Buffalo Public Library.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> <i>See</i> "Five Books of Song," by R. W. Gilder, 1894.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Dedicatory sonnet in "Younger American Poets, 1830-1890," edited by +Douglas Sladen and G. B. Roberts.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> The only edition I have seen was printed in the City of Mexico in 1871.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> <i>See</i> Scribner's Monthly, Feb., 1881.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> <i>See</i> "Beauties and Achievements of the Blind," by Wm. Artman and +L. V. Hall, Dansville, N. Y., 1854.</p></div> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Old Trails on the Niagara Frontier, by +Frank H. 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