Chapter 13 - Wonders of Nature
TRENTON FALLS
Trenton Falls is a series of waterfalls located in Trenton Gorge
on West Canada Creek. In the 1800s it was the most popular attraction in
the Mohawk Valley. Travelers came from around the world to visit the Falls
and stay at the Trenton Falls Resort. The following photographs, illustrations
and text are excerpts from the book Kuyahoora -
Discovering West Canada Valley.
Discovery: Kuyahoora---Trenton
Falls
The first time I visited Kuyahoora---Trenton Falls---was on the opening
day of trout season in the early 60s. I'll never forget that experience.
It was a beautiful sunny day, but cold, in the upper twenties. The trout
weren't biting, so I hiked the well-worn trail on the Herkimer County side
of the river, north from Trenton Falls Bridge.
My first view of the Falls was from high up on the
edge of the gorge. Although I didn't know it at the time, I was looking
at High Falls. With a full volume of spring-runoff cascading over the upper
and lower falls; blue sky above, all framed by monarch hemlocks at the
edge of the gorge, the view was spectacular. I had to see the falls up
close.
With great care---there were patches of ice and
snow---I descended the trail to the bottom of the gorge and walked up to
the lower falls. The mist rising from the cascading water had frozen to
trees and brush on the right side of the gorge, creating a magnificent
ice-sculpture that glistened white to blue in the mid-morning sun. I'm
not sure how long I studied this natural work of art, noting its variations
in color; listening to the rushing, falling, pounding water . . . before
I realized I was feeling the falls. It was a strange sensation; not easily
described. Somehow the beat of my heart and the roar and thunder of the
falls seemed connected. I had never felt so "high".
Upper High Falls, Mill Dam Falls and Power Dam.
Some 35 years later---August 7, '97---when
Bill McGuire and I came to explore and photograph the falls it was "kinder,
gentler". Perhaps serene would be a better word to describe the split
streams of water that turned from black . . . to white . . . to black,
as it flowed over limestone ledge and dropped gently to the plunge
pool below.
Our purpose was to gather information and photographs
for the book, Kuyahoora-Discovering West Canada Valley. We had permission
to do so from Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, the owners of the falls
at the time, so we entered the gorge from the powerhouse side; carrying
tripods, cameras . . . and my 10-foot canoe.
Bill had recently retired from NiMo and had worked
in the area for years, so he knew Trenton Gorge well. He agreed to show
me around and help take photographs.
Our
first stop was Carmichael's Point, one of the best overlooks of upper High
Falls with Mill Dam Falls in the background. Here we set up cameras on
two tripods, and trimmed branches to provide an unobstructed view. My plan
was to take a photograph of the falls to show the beauty of Kuyahoora,
and include a hiker/backpacker/canoeist standing atop the falls, to represent
the many ways of discovering West Canada Valley. After composing the photographs
and providing Bill with a quick review of how everything worked, we returned
to get the backpack and canoe.
Getting the photo gear to Carmichael's Point was
easy. Getting the canoe to the top of High Falls was another matter. From
the parking area near the power dam we carried it to the bottom of the
dam, down to the top of Mill Dam Falls, lowered it with a rope, and continued
downstream to the top of High Falls. During the summer months most
of the water is bypassed through the power plant, so I was able to cross
to the other side of the river without being swept over the falls.
I couldn't resist lowering my canoe over the
falls with a rope and then paddling it around
in the plunge pool between Upper and Lower High Falls.
Together we climbed the side of the gorge to the
Point, using scrub cedar for handholds. I checked the cameras and
photo composition once again, and showed Bill---through each camera lens---what
I wanted the photos to look like.
We had worked up quite a sweat climbing up and down
the gorge in the summer sun. Unfortunately, we neglected to carry beverage
into the gorge. More than once Bill noted the thirst quenching qualities
of a cold beer. When I donned the pack and canoe, I hand-signaled Bill
to start taking pictures. After he took several photos with three cameras,
varying the zoom lens on one, we waited a half-hour and repeated the process,
allowing the sun to reach a lower angle, and perhaps provide photographs
with more appealing exposure and color.
I had plenty of time to think while standing atop
the falls with a canoe on my back, looking down at the pond-size plunge
pool between the upper and lower falls. I wondered how many people had
paddled around in the plunge pool in the past 200 years. Not many, none
perhaps. Heh . . . I was here with a canoe . . . and a rope.
When Bill climbed down to the bottom of the upper
falls (carrying two cameras) I asked what he thought of my idea. Thumbs
up. I lowered the canoe over the falls, tied off the rope and climbed down
the side of the gorge. In 15 minutes I was paddling Willow Leaf where "no
canoe had ever gone before" while Bill took a few more photos. Just for
the record, I cast a lure into the water below the falls. Nothing.
It was 3:30 when we decided to call it a day. As
we readied the gear and canoe for the upward climb, Bill again noted the
thirst quenching qualities of beer. An hour later we had retraced our steps
to the car, loaded the gear inside, the canoe on top...and unloaded a small
cooler. When I handed Bill an ice cold . . . soft drink . . . he
drank it without complaint. Four hours in the hot sun made any cold liquid
"almost as good as beer".
Millions of Years in the Making---Fish for
the Taking
Layers of limestone intermixed with shale---500 million years in the
making---cut by glacial rivers created the Gorge. Water, ice, deep cracks
and resistant layers in the limestone created the Falls. The 2 1/2-mile
evergreen-lined gorge, featuring a series of rapids and waterfalls, dropped
river waters more than 300 feet, before exiting into a forested valley.
(See
also Chapter 3)
The slanting 5-foot limestone falls, at the
lower end of the gorge, slowed the progress of spawning brook trout and
suckers, and the 30-foot falls, a half-mile upstream, stopped them cold.
Fish were found here in considerable numbers when suckers moved
upstream to spawn in the spring and trout came to feed on their eggs,
and again in the fall when the trout came to spawn. During the low-water,
hot summer months, there were concentrations of fish further up the gorge
where deep pools and runs, below majestic waterfalls and rocky
rapids, provided cool, oxygenated water.
For thousands of years great blue heron and bald
eagles came to fish the Gorge with bill and talon. For hundreds
of years the Mohawks came to fish here with net, spear and line.
They called it Kauy-a-hoo-ra. Leaping Water.
Yankees Come to Kuyahoora
When the Third Allotment of the Royal Grant was opened for settlement
in 1786, New England farmers moved into the forest on the east side
of the Gorge. Squire Stoddard was one of those settlers. He
explored the Gorge, looking for a possible mill site. A thousand yards
upstream from a two-tiered, 100-foot falls (the highest in the gorge) he
found what he was looking for, a 14-foot falls where he could harness the
river to power a much-needed sawmill (The nearest sawmill was at Fortunes
Mills, more than 15 miles through the wilderness). No mean feat;
he had to cut a cart trail through the wilderness and down into the gorge.
Squire was not deterred. He bought the land, constructed a log mill-dam
at the top of the falls, built a sawmill on the east side of the gorge,
and was cutting spruce, cedar, hemlock and pine logs before 1800. (The
sawmill at Mill Dam Falls ceased operation in 1836, but buildings were
still standing in the 1850s)
A few years later residents of the growing settlement
of Olden Barneveldt, two miles west of the gorge, cut trails through
the wilderness, built ladders to reach the bottom of the gorge...and
guided visitors. One of those visitors was Reverend John Sherman.
John Sherman - Father of Trenton Falls Resort
John Sherman came from a family of risk takers and adventurers. His
grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence and helped frame the
Constitution of the United States, and his father "served with distinction"
in the Revolutionary War. John was an educated man; graduated from
Yale College in 1793 with honors, and became the pastor of the First Congregational
Church in Mansfield, Connecticut in 1797. During the last of his eight
years at Mansfield, his evolving Unitarian doctrine conflicted
with the Trinitarian beliefs of his congregation and efforts were made
to dispel him.
During those controversial years, Sherman's
brother-in-law invited him to Olden Barneveldt where he "preached before
the United Protestant Religious Society of Trenton" and was well received.
It was during this visit that he first made the journey to the Gorge.
There were two trails from Olden Barneveldt to the
Gorge; one traversed low ground to the 5-foot falls at the lower end of
the gorge; the other crossed at Parker Hollow and ran to high ground
through a hardwood wilderness to an evergreen forest at the top of the
highest falls. Sherman took the high-ground trail. When he saw, heard and
felt the falls, a seed was sown that grew from excitement . . . to
enthusiasm . . . to dream.
Soon after returning to Connecticut, he received a letter from the
Olden Barneveldt inviting him to be the pastor of the soon to be
organized, Reformed Christian Church. He resigned his Mansfield position,
and on February 1806, "...accepted the call for a term of three years at
an annual salary of $600", arriving with his family, a few weeks later.
Sherman fulfilled his contract plus one year, but
because his meager salary didn't keep up with the expense of providing
for his growing family (eventually nine children), he resigned as pastor
in 1810, and established an Academy east of the village next to the
low-ground trail to Trenton Falls. Teaching, being more profitable
than preaching, brought him closer to his dream.
John Sherman's dream became reality in 1822. Together
with Jarvis Phelps, he purchased from the Holland Land Company 60 acres
of land along the creek, including the lower fall, which he named Sherman
Fall. He bought out Phelps and erected a small building, The Rural Resort,
and opened it up for visitors to the Falls the following summer.
Sherman Improves on Nature
During the years that Sherman lived in Olden Barneveldt, he frequently
visited the Gorge, exploring it in every season, end to end---discovering
more waterfalls, plus, rapids, pools, runs, unique potholes and "petrifactions"
(fossils)---all the way up to the 20-foot falls where the valley turns
sharply northeast at the Village of Prospect. He noted the most beautiful
vistas, the most dangerous accesses . . . and the possibilities for improving
upon nature. As funds became available he hired workmen to
"adjust" nature with gun powder, creating safer trails and providing wider
vistas on his property in the Gorge.
With a $5,000 loan from a former Mayor of
New York City who visited the Gorge and saw it's possibilities as
a tourist attraction, Sherman expanded his operation to accommodate overnight
guests in 1825 . . . . and became "a must on the Grand Tour from New York
or Boston to Niagara Falls".
Despite the hardships and expense of traveling
by canal boat, coach or on horseback to Utica, and then over rutted roads
to the Gorge, hundreds of visitors came from Europe and civilized America
to see Trenton Falls and stay at the Rural Resort. .
Michael Moore Stumbles Into History
In 1827 Michael Moore, a young adventurer from a prominent New York
City family, visited the falls. While exploring the upper chasm he fell,
severely injuring his leg. During a lengthy recovery at the Rural Resort,
John Sherman's daughter, Maria was his nurse. The young couple fell in
love and were married in 1831, three years after Sherman's death. Moore
took over the management of the hotel, insuring it's success and international
prominence for the next 57 years. Michael had literally stumbled into the
history of Trenton Falls and West Canada Valley.
Michael Moore's contribution to the longevity of the Trenton Falls
Resort cannot be overstated. His personality, intellect, appreciation of
art, literature and science, his musical talent, and an extraordinary instinct
for knowing what attracted customers and encouraged them to come
back, resulted in a major expansion of the hotel in 1851 . . . and
a dramatic increase in business.
During this same period, improvements in transportation,
most notably railroads and interconnecting turnpikes and plank roads,
provided easier and quicker access to the Falls . . . and to tourist attractions
throughout New York State and other northern states. Indeed, improvements
in transportation---eventually including a rail line from Utica to
Trenton Depot (1855) and a year later to Trenton Falls Depot---was a two-edged
sword; initially bringing more tourists, but eventually taking them elsewhere.
For more than half a century, despite growing competition
in the tourist business, Trenton Falls Hotel, more often called Moore's
Hotel, prospered, as did nearby tourist related businesses. Moore, assisted
by family and friends, created a grand hotel that attracted wealthy merchants,
farmers, Southern planters, statesmen, diplomats, politicians, military
leaders, writers and artists from America and from around the world. They
came for family vacations; to escape the heat of the cities, the pressures
of business and government, or to renew "health and vigor".To most,
Trenton Falls was the main attraction, to some it was Moore's Hotel.
Trenton Falls Hotel Helped Shape World History
In the Register - Trenton Falls - 1862-1868 on August 18, 1863
is a list of guests' signatures starting with William H. Seward, (United
States) Secretary of State, followed by Mrs, Seward, Mrs. Perry (Seward's
daughter), and the following foreign dignitaries: Tassara of Spain; Berghman,
Belgian Charge D'affairs; Stroeckel, Russian Baron; Bodisco, Secretary
of the Russian Legation; Count Piper of Sweden; Lord Lyons, the British
Foreign Minister and Sheffield his Attache; Schleider of the Hanseatic
League; Bertinatti of Italy, Molena of Nicaragua and M. Mercier, the French
Foregin Minister.
Others
in attendance but with no signatures listed in the register were: Baron
Gerot of Prussia, Astaburger of Chile and Donaldson of the U.S. State
Department.
This influential group of foreign diplomats were invited to the
Falls by Secretary Seward as part of a tour to emphasize the agricultural
and industrial strength of the North, and to discourage support for the
South during the Civil War. While there is no record that any documents
were signed at Moore's Hotel, the tour and associated meetings produced
positive results. If a significant number of these countries had supported
the Confederacy, the history of this nation---and the world---would have
been changed forever. Imagine the outcome of WWI, WWII and the "Cold War"
if the United States had been divided in the 1860s.
Diplomats from around the world met at Trenton Falls during the
Civil War and influenced the history of United States of America.
Location, Location, Location
The adage that location, location, location is everything when it comes
to business certainly applied to the Trenton Falls area when Moore's Hotel
was flourishing. Hotels, Inns, taverns, stores, stables, shops and almost
every manner of business benefited from the influx of people created by
Michael Moore's promotion of Trenton Falls. When Moore's Hotel
was full, or if visitors couldn't afford their rates, nearby hotels and
Inns in Prospect, Barneveld, Poland and Newport benefited.
Moore's Hotel and enterprises associated with
Trenton Falls flourished well into the 1880s, but the railroad that brought
so many tourists to the Gorge, now took them to resorts and grand hotels
in the Adirondacks, Thousand Islands and at Lake Ontario. When Michael
Moore died at 85 in 1888 and his son Charles took over, the popularity
of the hotel and the Falls was already on the decline.
In 1893 the narrow gauge railroad that for years
ran from Herkimer to Poland was revamped with wider tracks and extended
northward, crossing the Gorge just above Mill Dam Falls. This Mohawk and
Malone Railroad provided more access to the Adirondacks . . . and allowed
passengers to see the gorge and some of the falls from the train as it
crossed the Gorge bridge.
Like his father, Charles Moore reacted aggressively
to the change. He built a new picnic ground where the new railroad stopped
at the Gorge; cut a more direct road to Trenton Falls Depot on the Black
River and Utica rail line; improved paths and views of the falls, and advertised
heavily. Unlike his father, Charles did not possess the personality and
talents that kept guests coming back year after year. He was unable to
stem the tide.
Moore's Hotel and all it's property, and additional
property on both sides of the Gorge were purchased by the Utica Electric
Light and Power Company, and the construction of a dam and power
plant began in the summer of 1899.
Trenton Falls Changed Forever
When the Power Project was completed in 1901, the 60-foot high, 300-foot
long, concrete and stone dam that spanned the gorge backed up water for
more than a half-mile. The dam and water covered three of the Gorge's
natural attractions---the Cascade of the Alhambra, the Rocky Heart and
Potash Kettle---but left Mill Dam Falls, High Falls, Sherman Falls and
the east side of the Gorge relatively untouched. On the west side, a seven-foot
diameter wooden-stave pipe, (similar in construction to some of the
old wooden mill races) ran along the top of the gorge for 2900 feet before
joining with 800 feet of steel pipe that carried river water from the dam
to the power house below Sherman Falls. Here it dropped an additional 90-feet,
through four turbine generators, exiting into the river below, for
a total vertical drop of 270 feet.
On the east side of the Gorge an additional limestone falls was created,
perpendicular to the dam, when a channel was cut around that end of the
dam to carry excess water. During high water periods water cascades over
the dam ... and the falls at the end of the bypass channel.
Exploring The Falls and Gorge
Right up front. Almost all of Trenton Gorge is private property. Right
now most of it is owned by the Orion Power Corporation . . . and it's posted.
That was not always the case. For many years the power company encouraged
the public to view the falls, but that changed when suing the company became
a yearly event.
For a couple hundred years when someone was injured
or killed in the Gorge, it was considered an accident; credited to carelessness,
foolishness or misfortune. During the heyday of Moore's Hotel , 15 people
lost their lives and dozens were seriously injured by falling into the
Gorge and/or being swept away by the river. They included young, old, rich
and poor. There are no records of lawsuits regarding those unfortunate
mishaps.
During the 1970s and '80s when I lived in Prospect,
there was hardly a year went by that someone didn't fall into the gorge
or dive into the river and receive serious or fatal injuries. Trenton Falls
was a popular place for high school students to spend "skip day", and for
college students and other young adults to party . . . and litter the area
with beer bottles, cans, paper and plastic. A number of lawsuits
were filed against Niagara Mohawk, and in at least one case, against the
Prospect Volunteer Ambulance Service that rescued the individual that fell
into the Gorge.
In response to lawsuits and litter, posted signs
went up on both sides of the gorge. I was unable to obtain an official
report from NiMo regarding lawsuits, but I have learned that their reaction
to a possible lawsuit from someone who is injured in the Gorge is to charge
them with trespass. I know personally of one serious-injury incident where
the charge of trespass ended all efforts to sue. This has apparently been
successful in heading off similar lawsuits.
Despite the posted signs, hundreds of hikers view
the Falls each year without incident. There are well worn-trails on the
east side of the Gorge that lead to safe scenic overlooks, and other more
difficult (sometimes dangerous) trails that run along and down into the
Gorge.
Most of the west side of the gorge where the power
dam and station is located is fenced in, and on-site personnel "discourage"
trespass unless visitors are there to see the Sherman/Moore Cemetery, view
the "Civil War Stone", or have pre-arranged a guided tour.
Recent efforts to provide public access to the Falls
on designated trails to scenic overlooks were unsuccessful. Niagara Mohawk
was reluctant to provide access through their power station property on
the Town of Trenton side, and residents in the Town of Russia oppose such
public access to Niagara Mohawk property on their side of the Gorge.
Betrayal and Battle at Trenton Falls
Too often the history of Kuyahoora Valley seems to start with the coming of the Palatines to Herkimer in the 1720s or with the Yankee invasion of the valley in the 1790s. Yet the Mohawks and a few Europeans traveled and lived here long before that time. Below Trenton Falls, where fish congregated and where bear and other game were plentiful, was the site of a seasonal village from the earliest times. The following tale of abduction, love, betrayal and battle culminated near that long ago village.
Count de Frontenac, Governor of New France (Canada) learned that his half-breed daughter, Oneta was taken from her Indian village in Canada to the Mohawk Valley village at the mouth of the Schoharie River. Here she became the bride of Achawi, a Mohawk chieftain.
In 1693 Frontenac organized an expedition of French troops and their Indian allies against the Mohawks, destroying their three main villages and taking hundreds of prisoners. Although, orders were given to find and return his daughter, Oneta and her husband avoided capture.
In 1696 while Frontenac was gathering an army at a camp on Lake Ontario in preparation for a campaign to destroy Onondaga and Oneida Villages, he was visited by a Flemish-born hunter by the name of Hanyost who had lived among the Indians in the Mohawk Valley. Hanyost had a grievance against Achawi and knew of the Count's desire to find his daughter, so he traveled to Frontenac's camp on Lake Ontario and offered to guide an expedition to Achawi's summer camp near Konnediega (Trenton Falls).
Frontenac sent a "small but efficient" force of a dozen musketeers with 25 pikemen under the command of Baron de Bakencourt and Chevalier de Grais. Before the French force conducted their pre-dawn surprise attack on the wilderness village near the great falls, they were ordered to spare all the female inhabitants and kill all the defenders.
After setting fire to the village, musketeers shot fleeing villagers and pikemen slaughtered unarmed warriors as they emerged from their burning wigwams. Achawi and some of his followers snatched up their weapons and met the French man to man, killing a number of pikemen.
Oneta with her infant son in her arms fled to the safety of the surrounding hills . . . pursued by a Frenchman. Ever-alert to the welfare of his wife and son, Achawi saw their impending danger and gave chase. He intercepted the enemy, dispatching him with a tomahawk to the head. Turning to return to the battle, Achawi was confronted by French soldiers some of which he killed before following his wife into the gorge.
DeGrais witnessed the departure of the Mohawk Chief and his wife and child, recognizing her as the daughter of Count Frontenac. DeGrais, Hanyost and seven soldiers gave chase. When they reached the head of a rocky pass (the lower end of Trenton Gorge) Achawi lifted his wife to a ledge, handed her the infant and told her to climb to the cavern above. He then climbed up to the ledge and waited for the enemy.
The first soldier to approach the ledge took an arrow in the neck, falling backward dislodging the soldiers behind him, slowing their progress. When they again advanced, another soldier was hit by Achawi's well-placed arrow. Before Achawi could string another arrow, Hanyost fired his gun, hitting the Mohawk in the thumb.
Achawi fled, leading the Frenchmen away from the path taken by his wife. From the ledges above, he noted that only three of the soldiers were following him, the others were being led by Hanyost directly to the cavern where Oneta sought refuge. With great effort, the Mohawk warrior eluded his pursuers and arrived at a point where he could see Hanyost and DeGrais climbing to the cavern. Despite his disabled and bleeding thumb, Achawi placed his arrow in his bow and with two fingers drew the arrow feathers to his cheek.
Hanyost took the arrow in his heart. As he fell he grabbed DeGrais's sword chain and the two men fell into the gorge. With Hanyost dead and only one soldier left, DeGrais abandoned the pursuit.
Having failed to recover Frontenac's daughter, the remaining Frenchmen began the long march back. Achawi and his surviving warriors followed the French through the wilderness, killing many of them before they reached the French Army that was advancing on the land of the Onondagas and Oneidas.
Two years later Count Frontenac died, never having seen his daughter and grandchild.
The primary source of information for this story was obtained from The Mohawk Valley - It's Legends and its History 1609-1780 by W. Max Reid (1901).
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on
Mohawk
Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type Trenton Falls select New York, press
GO!
Click
on margin arrows to follow our progress down the Mohawk Valley.
