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This chapter analyzes the writing of Louis de Hennepin from a different perspective, demonstrating in his discussion of the Niagara Falls that Niagara was central to French perceptions of North America, and acted over the centuries as an index of shifting conventions of travel writing and topographical description. It deconstructs the physical actuality of the place to show how it was sometimes perceived aurally, at other times as a visual phenomenon.

This chapter examines interest in the battlegrounds from the War of 1812 surrounding Niagara Falls. These sites’ proximity to Niagara Falls continues to draw many tourists. Tourists bored by the hotels and scenery, or the novelty of crossing the river just below the falls in a hand-rowed ferryboat, discovered that there were areas of additional interest that would enrich their experience at Niagara Falls. History, in short, had complemented the tourist routine. What remained of and on the battlefields guided the memories tourists constructed of the War of 1812.

This chapter describes Cecelia's trip to Niagara Falls with Fanny and explains her decision to escape from slavery. It examines the legal, social, familial, and personal circumstances that influenced her thinking. It also discusses Fanny's mindset as Cecelia's owner.

The Niagara contract was a fitting judgment on John’s career to date, and the bridge itself was a triumph, eliciting praise and admiration from all over the globe, for both its handsome Egyptian architecture and the soundness of its design. It took four years to build and was the world’s first railroad suspension bridge, or at least the first successful one, fully demonstrating the strength and effectiveness of the suspension plan for heavy-going freight. It also compared very favorably with Robert Stephenson’s recently completed Britannia Tubular Bridge, the British engineer’s rival solution to the problem of long-span railroad bridges. A lifelong, committed abolitionist who wrote extensively about the evils of slavery, John also appreciated the impact his bridge had (somewhat incidentally) on the institution of slavery. Harriet Tubman (among others) used John’s bridge numerous times in the late 1850s to lead runaway slaves out of the United States and into British Canada.

Contextualizes Roosevelt’s role as the creator of national parks, wildlife refuges, and national monuments; shows important political connections with Representatives John F. Lacey and others in fostering the conservation agenda; addresses the neglected role of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society and its officials links with Roosevelt, and its alliance with the American Civic Association led by Horace McFarland. Examines the transfer of lobbying tactics from moral reform and missionary support groups to conservation. Emphasizes the role of scenic beauty in conservation and its relationship with a critique of the aesthetic and moral impacts of industrial society; examines the hitherto neglected importance of the international campaign for preservation of Niagara Falls and its impact on conservation strategies and tactics. Documents the roles of the Hetch-Hetchy Valley dam proposap, international park models, and tourism competition in spurring systemic national park policy and development.

Ellet’s time at Niagara was packed with incident. He built a pulley system between the two shores, to which he attached an iron basket so as to transfer men, materials, and paying tourists across the chasm. He then used his swinging basket to build a temporary suspension bridge, built of wood and wire. The plan was to turn the temporary bridge into a permanent structure, but relations between Ellet and the Bridge Company quickly deteriorated. The company fired Ellet during one of his scheduled absences and took command of his bridge. Ellet’s agents subsequently retook the span, posting an armed guard and cannon at the bridge’s entrance. The standoff was eventually resolved through the courts. Ellet was paid off. John, who had avidly followed the whole episode and spent his time writing a series of articles for the press on a range of subjects, from the Atlantic Cable to a national university for technical education, was brought in.

Niagara (1953) is in many ways the definitive 1950s color noir. One reason is Marilyn Monroe, whose exorbitant sexuality can be read either as yet another instance of the femme fatale or the transgressive force of female fantasy in the 1950s. Another reason is Henry Hathaway, who is one of the most underrated figures in classic American noir and whose direction in Niagara is the key to a renewed appreciation of his corpus and its unique synthesis of “mystery narration” and “documentary realism.” Yet another reason is the photography of Joe MacDonald, whose Technicolor cinematography brilliantly utilizes color and lighting to plumb the mysteries of the film’s donnée, a marriage on the brink of destruction.

The images of the United States claimed by southerners began in the North, specifically in travel guides to upstate New York. Although tourists could be found both in the North and the South after the War of 1812, New York has the best claim to being the first developed tourist region because it had the necessary requirements for modern tourism. First, New York had natural attractions, such as Niagara Falls, and fine resorts, such as Saratoga Springs. New York also had the best transportation network in the antebellum era. By the 1830s, this travel infrastructure included turnpikes, regular steamers up the Hudson, established railroad routes, and the 350-mile-long Erie Canal. Travel was not only faster than in the South but offered a level of comfort the South could not match. Finally, tourism was greatly aided by the large population of potential tourists living in New York City who were in comfortable reach of worthy attractions.