On September 21, 1840, someone by the name of
Rose, from Rochester, New York penned a letter to her aunt Clara, describing a
recent trip to Niagara Falls. In the
letter she describes her excursion to both the Canadian and American sides of
the Falls and mentions purchasing some articles, presumably beadwork, from a
Tuscarora woman on Iris (Goat) Island. It’s one of the earliest accounts of an
encounter with a Native beadseller at the Falls that I am familiar with. The original
letter was four pages long but only the first page (figure
1) is illustrated to give you a flavor of her handwriting, as the text
is very hard to read in some places. I transcribed the entire letter and you
can read it below. It gives you a compressed taste of the period and what it
was like for a well-to-do family to spend some time at the Falls during that
early period. I added a few photographs
and illustrations to support the text. The letter is transcribed as found, with
all the misspellings and conventions of the day.
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Fig. 1 – The
first page of a four page letter describing a trip to Niagara Falls in 1840.
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To:
Mrs. Clara
Burhidge
406 Greenwich
Street
New York
[page 1]
Rochester Sept. 21st 1840.
Dear Aunti,
We arrived
here last night after a hard weeks work. I wrote Mary H from Niagarra. I requested her to carry the letter
immediately to our house. I am affraid
that her letter will not reach NY before this one. We received Aunt Cornelia’s on yesterday
week. we had been anxiously expecting it
for some days & when it did come we were half wild with joy. Mary’s letter will give you some account of
our sojourn in her Majesty’s dominions.
It rained when we arrived at the falls & it rained when we
left. The sun shone for 10 minits just
after we arrived & showed us one magnificent rainbow. Mama & L went to Lundie’s Lane the
afternoon of our arrival. It was so wet
& muddy that I did not go. – They came home laden with relics. The first view of the cataract. –
disappointed us all. – (figure 2). |
Fig. 2 – Full
plate Ambrotype taken at the Falls. Circa 1860.
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I had been at the Clifton house (figure 3) half an hour before I thought of the roar,
of which I had heard so much. Jane, Mrs.
C & myself arrose at 5 the next morning & went to Table rock. We remained on the English side untill noon,
when we crossed to the other side (figure 4).
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Fig. 3 –
Circa 1880s trade card advertising the Clifton House, located on the Canadian
side of the Falls, where the writer of the letter was staying.
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Fig. 4 – The
Upper Suspension Bridge, which connected both sides of the Falls, was built in
1869, almost thirty years after Rose crossed over to the American side. In the
early 1840s, two businessmen, Thomas Clark and Samuel Street, owned and
operated a ferry service, which took people back and forth across the river
until the Upper Suspension Bridge was built. Their ferry managed to move in on
a thriving Native-run ferry service, for Native men had taken passengers across
the river in canoes since the 1820s. It’s unclear which method she used to
cross over.
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Here we spent the day. We traversed Iris
(formally Goat) island from one end to the other. We crossed all the little [page
2] bridges leading from that island to the smaller ones who surround it. We
assended the tower [Terrapin’s] (figure 5).
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Fig. 5 – Terrapin
Tower was built in 1829 on Goat Island at the eastern edge of the
Horseshoe Falls. The circular shaped tower was forty feet tall and twelve feet
in diameter. It was constructed of rough stone gathered locally. Access to the
tower cost an additional 10¢. A winding staircase led to a small door at the
top. Here was an outside circular balcony guarded by a heavy metal railing. It
provided an unparalleled view of the Falls and the gorge below.
In 1872, Terrapin Tower was purposely
blown apart, not because it had become unsafe, but rather not to compete with a
planned new tower at the recently purchased Prospect Park by a new company. The
plans for a new tower subsequently fell through and the replacement tower was
never built. Citizens tried unsuccessfully to get the Tower at Terrapin Point
replaced. The timber walkway remained in existence for many years following the
destruction of Terrapin Tower and it was still in existence as late as 1905.
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We went into all the museums. – We went up &
we went down & round. we walked
& climbed & run, & slipped & tumbled, sometimes with the wind
& sometimes with the water. On Iris [Goat]island
we saw an Indian & squa of the Tuscarora tribe of whom we bought (figure 6). No
matter what you shall see when we get home.
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Fig. 6 –
Stereo view taken by the British photographer William England for the London
Stereoscopic Company in 1859. The title of the view (on the back) is a “Group
of Indian Women at Bead Work – Scene on Goat Island, Niagara.” This is the
earliest stereoview that I’m familiar with of a group of Tuscarora women
selling at the Falls. There is a later group of stereoviews of Tuscarora women
selling beadwork at the Falls that was taken by photographer George Barker.
Most have orange mounts and they all date to around 1870.
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At 3 PM we
went to the hotel on the American side to wait for the cars to conduct us to
Bufula [Buffalo]. – We were all delighted beyond measure with the falls. Even mama is more than satisfied. The only drawback to her happiness, was that
Aunt Cornelia was not there. I believe
she has made arrangements with the hotel keeper to accomodate the whole family
next summer for a month at a time. She
has selected the site for her country residence on the Island. The journey had almost cured her of her
desire to leave NY, but now she says that if such a thing should happen Niagara
is the spot. We took the cars from
Bufalo at Nia. At Tantawanta Creek there
was a break in the road where we had the pleasure of alighting from the cars in
as heavy a rain as ever fell the mud was about 12 inches deep. Here we had an opertunity of displaying our
agility in leaping from log to log to gain the other train of cars now &
then a miss step would bring us one shoe loss in the mud. We got to B about 9 as tiered dusty, yet mery
a set as were ever launched from an omnibus.
–– Here we remained all day and saturday. We like B much it is so like
NY. – We took [page 3] dinner with Mrs. Carheart.– Miss Patty was at
their sister’s. she is a compleet
boarding school miss. We took tea with
Mrs. Lacy I like her very much. When we were in Toronto I wished for the boys
to see the review of the English trops.
I was affraid however that the splendor of their uniforms might have
corrupted their patriotism. But when we
got to B we saw another review. There
were about 500 men reviewed. It was
field day. The children would have been
delighted to see the horses fly round the ground with the rapidity of
lightning, draging the canons behind them then they would form & fire.
First the infantry would give a feu de joy.
& then the artillery would rattle. At B we met a gentleman & 2
ladies from Cleveland acquaintances of Mr Willard. They were going home &
asked us to accompany them but the lake is so rough that it is uncertain when
the boats would leave, besides traveling on Erie is very dangerous at this time
of year. I do not think we shall go to Montreall L declares she will not go on board of a
steamer until we get to Albeny. We are going this week to see Mrs. Grey. – Tell
L Moore that she is a good girl to finish her bag so soon. I should like to have her with me very soon
& tell me all about L Clavin’s marriage.
I have written this letter to you both because I forgot Aunt Cornelia’s
when I suppose Rose is quite a woman now.
Mrs. G has given me a sort of dolls crib for her & is about as long
as this sheet of paper and half as wide. I wish Aunt Clara would prepare the
bedding for it before we return. I have
not room to tell you all I wish to. Pray
do write immediately. How is L’s
foot. Tell Uncle B that I can
[page 4a] 2 or 3 numbers for the truth of my statement
respecting the peaches. Ask him how
politics go they say here that there is no hope for Matty & we began to
think so far we have seen only 3 Locos since we came west. Tell L that I guess Arthur has his eye on
her. – Is Mr Robers married yet. – would
not he like an intercessor. Let us know
what is going on in the church. Mr G has introduced us to an itinerant New
preacher. A Mr Roberts. He appears to be a very fine man has preached
in our city & knows Mr Gayger Mr
LeFevre & the parsens He came &
spent the afternoon & evening with us to
[page 4b] talk of
Whitaker, Between Lockport & this place we saw 2 of our churches. Tell Aunt Ann that in the presents which we
smugeled from Canada she was not forgotten. Kiss all the children &
remember us to all those we should remember. Tell Bridget she must take good
care of Aunt C & Lydia. Where did
Mrs Baldwin get her scandal. – That is it.
Write the day after you get this if possible & believe me your Rose.
Mama has sent her a box of Cat Prints & an other
of her old school notes.
END
