19th Century Celebrities Create Tourism Sensation …
…….

This fascinating story begins with Thayendanegea, a celebrated Mohawk chief also known as Joseph Brant.

The powerful politician and military leader fought for the British in the American Revolution and later rubbed shoulders with King George III and George Washington. In the late 1790s, while being feted at a prestigious New York social gathering, Brant met a young socialite named Theodosia Burr. Theodosia, daughter of the third American Vice President, Aaron Burr, must have been intrigued by Brant and his invitation to visit Niagara Falls and his nearby home on the Grand River. Following her wedding to Joseph Alston in 1801, she and Joseph and a team of staff and pack horses set off on a long and arduous ‘wedding journey’ to Niagara. The newlyweds must have liked what they saw because news of their wedding journey spread quickly and it wasn’t long before other well-heeled newlyweds were making similar trips.

Then came the railroad, and by 1900 thousands of newlyweds had turned Niagara Falls into the Honeymoon Capital of the World.

So what is it about Niagara Falls that has captured the attention of so many for so long? These few quotes give us a clue:

In 1678, Louis Hennepin was the first ever European to see the falls. He penned Niagara as …

“A vast and prodigious Cadence of Water.”

Charles Dickens was impressed too; after his 1842 visit he wrote …

“I seemed to be lifted from the earth and to be looking into Heaven.”

In 1953, Hollywood released the movie, Niagara, starring Marilyn Monroe. Alex Barris, a Hollywood critic at the time wrote about Monroe …

“She was probably the only woman in the world who… could rival Niagara Falls.”

Dramatic Niagara Falls rescue