Niagara Falls 



1872 Barton and Co. They supplied all the military posts; and pro- 

 Porter vided all the means of transportation required by the large Indian 



Traders, and Fur Companies, of that period. 



In 1 807 the first grist-mill was built by them at Niagara Falls, 

 and in order to obtain the force required to raise the frame, they 

 were obliged to send to Fort Niagara, for a detachment of 

 soldiers. 



In 1 808 Augustus Porter erected his dwelling house, destroyed 

 during the war of 1812, and re-built on the same site in 1818. 



From 1 808 to 1812 other improvements were made. A rope 

 manufactory was established on a very liberal scale, in which 

 cordage was manufactured for lake vessels, both American and 

 English. The supply of hemp was raised on the Genesee river 

 flats. A tannery, and a carding and cloth dressing establish- 

 ment, a large log tavern, and ten or twelve comfortable dwelling 

 houses were erected at an early period. 



Previous to 1812 most of the large trees north of Bridge 

 Street had been cut down, but the young trees and undergrowth, 

 particularly near the river, grew very thick and close, quite down 

 to the Falls. 



On the Canada shore, with the exception of a small plot of 

 dry ground where Bamett's Museum now stands, the whole flat 

 from Table R.ock to the Clifton House, was a wet cedar swamp. 

 Cedars also grew thickly on the declivities below the perpen- 

 dicular banks on both sides of the river, adding much to the 

 general effect of the scenery. 



For several years the descent to the ferry below the Falls, was 

 down the rugged precipice, near the present inclined plane, with 

 the aid only of bushes growing out of the crevices of the rocks, 

 and by means of logs placed at an inclination, with notches cut 

 for steps, answering the purpose of short ladders. The river 

 crossing was made in a common canoe. At a later period, an 

 improvement v/as made on the primitive plan, by the erection of 

 long ladders, connected and extending from top to bottom of the 

 precipice. 



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