"Towards the south, and a little towards the west, is the Neuter
Nation, whose villages, which are now on the frontier, are only
about thirty leagues distant from the Hurons. It is forty or fifty
leagues in extent" [that is from west to east, for it extended from
the Detroit River to some distance east of the Niagara River].
Then he writes, what for the purpose of this article is the most
interesting portion of the letters, as follows:
"Almost south of the Neuter Nation is a large lake, almost 200
leagues in circumference, called Erie, which is formed from the
Fresh Water Sea, [Lake Huron] and falls, from a terrible height,
into a third lake called Ontario, which we call St. Louis.
"From the foam of the waters, roaring at the foot of certain large
rocks, which are found at this place, is formed a stone, or rather
pulverized salt, of a somewhat yellowish color, of great virtue for
healing wounds, fistulas, and malignant ulcers. In this place, full
of horrors, live also certain savages, who live only on elk, deer,
buffalos, and all other kinds of game that the rapids drag and
bring down to the entrance of these rocks; where the savages catch
them, without running for them, more than sufficient for their
needs, and the maintenance of strangers [Indians from other and
distant tribes], with whom they trade in these 'Erie Stones'
['Pierres Eriennes']--thus called because of this lake--who carry
and distribute them to other Nations."
In confirmation of the Doctor's statement that articles were brought to
Niagara, for the purposes of trade,--in 1903 there was opened an Indian
Mound, on top of and close to the edge of the Mountain Ridge, some
three and a half miles east of the Niagara River, on the Tuscarora
Reservation, in the town of Lewiston, Niagara County, N.Y. It was a
Burial Pit; and a Peace Burial Pit; more than probably dating from
1640, which was the last date of the ten-year Ceremonial Burials
observed by the Neuters, who then owned and occupied all this Niagara
Region; for before the expiration of the next ten year period, the
Neuters had been annihilated by the Senecas. In it were found nearly
400 skulls, and the bones of probably an equal number of bodies, some
articles of copper (made by the French, and proving trade with them),
many hundreds of shell beads, and other articles of Indian make, among
them some made from large Conche Shells, such as are found on the
shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and curiously enough three or four large,
unbroken, Conche Shells. These latter, it is fair to assume, were
brought nearly 2,000 miles, to Niagara, there to be traded for those
"Erie Stones" (and they were brought unbroken, so that their buyer
could cut from them gorgets and other ornaments of the shape and size
that suited his fancy), thus proving, that for some years, no one can
pretend to say how many, perhaps centuries before Docteur Gendron wrote
the second known reference to Niagara, the fame of the Cataract was
widely known among the Indians of North America; even beyond the
far-off, sunny lands, inhabited by the Arkansaws; clear to the mouths
of the Mississippi, "The Father of Waters," and along the shores of the
Gulf of Mexico.
So it was a Physician, in a letter written from an unnamed place in the
wilds of Canada, to a friend, of whose name we are ignorant, in
France,--the contents of which letter were, in a few years, to be
published to the World,--that was, in date the second, though in print
the fourth, man ever to refer directly to Niagara Falls.
Yet, it is not surprising that it should have been so, for almost every
instance in History tells us that, so far as newly discovered lands are
concerned, it is the Explorer, or Empire-Builder, who first penetrates
them, and the Priest soon follows the explorer, and the Physician soon
follows the Priest. And that was exactly the order which was followed
in the explorations of the Great-Lakes-Region of North America.
The Quartette--the third was an Italian, the other three were
Frenchmen--who first referred directly to Niagara in print,
stands--Champlain, Ragueneau, Bressani, Gendron, and in that order:--A
Soldier of the Sword; two Soldiers of the Cross; and a Soldier of
Medicine--though, so far as the dates when the letters of those four
were written, and the information thus put in form which made its
publication possible, are concerned, the Physician, Gendron, should
occupy the second--instead of the fourth place. And, by-the-way, this
Sieur Gendron was the first white Physician who is known to have lived
anywhere in the western portion of this Country; the first white
Physician in the limits of the present province of Ontario in Canada;
and the first white Physician among the Indians of North America.
In the case of the good Docteur Gendron--who, next to Champlain, was
the earliest to mention Niagara,--it was not the scenic beauty of the
Falls (he does not say that he ever saw them), but it was something in
the direct line of his profession which caused him to refer to them. It
was because, at their base, and created, as he was told, by their
waters, there was found--and there only--a panacea for many, if not for
all, human ills. From his statements, it seems clear, that those "Erie
Stones," which were "found only at Niagara," were themselves widely
known amongst the Savages; and were a considerable article of trade
between many, even to the most distant, Tribes.
And, even as to the minds of the Aborigines who dwelt far from it, the
triple importance of Niagara was that it necessitated a long Land
Carriage or Portage in their canoe voyages, that it was a famous
"trading place," and, that it was the only source of supply of those
famous "Erie Stones"; even so, to the mind of Docteur Gendron, their
main importance lay, not in their imagined grandeur, but in the
authenticated statement, that it, and it alone, produced a stone or
powder, efficacious in the treatment of certain ills; which was
undoubtedly a very welcome and a very decided addition to the probably
very limited stock of his Materia Medica. Thus, Niagara, which to-day
is famous the World over, for its Scenery, for its Botany, for its
Geology, for its History, for its Hydraulic works, and lastly (and
almost equally with its Scenery), for its Electrical developments, has
also, through Docteur Gendron's "hasty letter"--written in 1644 or
1645--a distinct, and a very, very early claim to a place in the annals
of the Healing Art--as it was known and practiced on the Continent of
North America, during the first half of the 17th Century; and also
therefrom another distinct proof that the locality was an Aboriginal
Center of Trade.
This "Trade" in those "Erie Stones" must have been a most important
thing for those Savages,--the Onguiaahras--who dwelt close to the
Cataract at that time, and prior thereto.
It is further a most interesting fact, that the "Trade" therein was the
first recorded trade ever carried on at Niagara; and it is also most
interesting to recall, that this first Trade, at this famous spot, was
in an article used for the relief of human suffering,--a simple remedy,
furnished by Nature, and "all ready for use."
That Niagara product; which, possibly long before Columbus landed at
San Salvador, probably during all the 16th, certainly during the 17th
Century; made the locality famous, far and wide; was among the earliest
known of America's healing remedies. It was evidently a leading, and a
much-sought-for, prescription among the Aborigines. To-day, it has no
value whatever. It is still to be found in abundance in the immediate
vicinity of the Falls, in the Gorge below them; but no one seeks to
gather it, save as a curiosity.
But, in those early days, among the ignorant and phenomenally
superstitious Savages, those "Erie Stones," to be "found only at
Niagara," seemed to them a special gift from the Great Spirit to his
children. To the Savages, they were, veritably, "Big Medicine."
Their fame lasted for many a year. They were gathered and traded
in--yes, and used--even until the middle of the 18th Century. As late
as 1787, their reputation still clung to the great Fall.
That year, Capt. Enys, of the 29th Regiment, British, was at Niagara,
and wrote of them--they were no longer called "Erie Stones," but the
substance was known as "petrified spray of the Falls,"--
"On our return" [from the base of the Fall, and walking along the
water's edge, under the cliff], "we employed ourselves in picking
up a kind of stone, which is said to be the Spray of the Fall,
petrified, but whether it is or no, I will not pretend to
determine; this much I can say, that it grows, or forms itself in
cavities in the cliff, about half way to the top, from whence it
falls from time to time; its composition is a good deal like a
piece of white marble which has been burnt in the fire, so that it
may be pulverized with ease. Whatever may be its composition, it
does not appear that it will bear to be exposed to the air, as some
pieces which seem to have fallen longer than the rest are quite
soft; while such as had lately fallen are of a much harder nature."
Robert McCauslin, M.D., who, during and after the War of the
Revolution, spent nine years at Niagara--undoubtedly as British Post
Surgeon at Fort Niagara,--furnished a scientific paper entitled, "An
account of an earthly substance, found near the Falls of Niagara, and
vulgarly called the Spray of the Falls," to Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton;
and he, on October 16, 1789, communicated it to the American
Philosophical Society; in whose Transactions it was subsequently
published. Dr. McCauslin specially noted, that
"This substance is found, in great plenty, everywhere about the
bottom of the Falls; sometimes lying loose among the stones on the
beach, and sometimes adhering to the rocks, or appearing between
the layers upon breaking them. The masses are of various sizes and
shapes, but seldom exceed the bulk of a man's hand. Sometimes they
are of a soft substance and crumble like damp sugar; while other
pieces are found quite hard, and of a shining, foliated appearance;
or else opaque and resembling a piece of burnt allum. It often
happens that both these forms are found in the same mass. Pieces
which are taken up whilst soft soon become hard by keeping; and
they are never known to continue long in a soft state, as far as I
have been able to learn."
He records that it is not found at all above the Falls, in the greatest
amounts in the Gorge, close to the Falls; and in decreasing quantities
as the distance from them increases; and is never found at a greater
distance from them than perhaps a mile. From several scientific
experiments which he made upon this substance, he deduced,
"1st, That this concrete is not an alkaline earth, as it is not
affected either by the vitriolic or vegetable acids.
"2d, That we may, with more probability, say that it is a
combination of an acid with a calcareous earth, and that it might
with propriety be ranked amongst the selenites."
He thought it was formed by the moisture arising from the Falls
constantly and slowly filtering between the layers of rock, in whose
crevices it deposited its heavier portions, and that the violent
agitation which the water had undergone disposed it to part with its
earth more easily than it would otherwise do.
He adds, "The circumstance of this Spray not being found above the
Falls seems to suggest an opinion that that part of the vapor which
hangs upon the surrounding rocks is the heaviest, as being most
loaded with earthy particles, whilst the remainder which mounts up
is the purest and contains little or no earth."
Dewit Clinton, when he visited Niagara in 1810--as a Member of the
first Board of Commissioners, appointed by the State of New York, to
report on the whole subject of the proposed Erie Canal, noted in his
diary,
"A beautiful white substance is found at the bottom of the Falls;
supposed by some to be Gypsum, and by the vulgar, to be a
concretion of foam, generated by the forces of the Cataract. But it
is unquestionably part of the limestone, dissolved and re-united."
Since Clinton's time no attention has been paid to this substance as a
curative agent.
As a geological substance it is still collected, but with greater ease
than formerly, for, besides being found on and below the face of the
cliff, its existence in the limestone all over the vicinity of the
Falls has been demonstrated by means of the huge excavations that have
been made in the development of the various Power Plants at Niagara.