equipments, arms, ammunition,
clothing of all kinds, tools, most of the food (all of it save the fish
they caught, the game they shot, and the few vegetables they raised)
which sustained life in the poorly-fed garrisons in those far off posts
on the upper Lakes; most of the necessities, everyone of the
luxuries,--every pound of coffee, of tea, of sugar, of tobacco, of
salt, of flour, of dried and salted meats, every bit of medicine, every
gallon of rum;--all those and many other articles had to go to them,
annually, by "way of Niagara." There was no other feasible way of
transporting goods to the West. In fact there was no other way, save by
the Ottawa and through the Georgian Bay; and on the Ottawa, there were
forty-two portages, whereas via Niagara there was but the one. And
under both French and British rule, Niagara was a great Center of
Trade, in furs, and an enormous trade it was. Both the military and the
commercial trade of half a Continent flowed by its doors; and both,
going eastward and westward, required unloading and transporting over
its seven miles of portage.

At one time, in 1764, when provisions were being forwarded to the West
for the use there of Gen. Bradstreet's Army, it is recorded that over
5,000 barrels of provisions alone lay at Fort Schlosser, the upper
terminus of Niagara's portage, awaiting shipment to the West. By
Niagara also went--had to go, for besides being the only feasible
route, it was the only safe way, for it had military protection,--all
the traders, with their boat loads of cheap merchandize; men who spent
months at a time in journeying among the tribes in the Northwest,
trading their wares for valuable furs; all of which peltries, in turn,
they had to bring east "by Niagara."

With the opening of the Erie Canal, in 1826, all that portaging
business at Niagara disappeared; and Niagara, that is the territory
immediately adjoining the Cataract, became a famous Watering Place;
which character it has ever since retained, and always will retain.

In the early days of that scenic glory it still preserved a tinge of
its ancient aspect, as "An Aboriginal Center of Trade." For many years
Indian bead-work was one of the main attractions offered in the Bazaars
there. And the elder generation of visitors will recall the familiar
sight of aged Indian Squaws, and dusky Indian Maidens, who daily,
during the season of travel, sat at various points along the route of
the tourist--on the steep