Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1872-07-25

luded to are the results of considerable
investigation; and should any of our con-
temporaries be inclined to question our
theory, we venture to express our hope
| that they will be pleased to submit tn at
which, in their Judgment, is more prob
able or more correct. '.-'
In former ages the whole of Upper
Canada and a considerable portion OF
! the adjoining States were under water,
and formed the bed of a vast lake or in
| land sea, more than three times the
size of Hudson Bay. The surplus waters
| of this lake escaped to the sea via the
st. Lawrence. In doing SO they thun-
dered over a cataract of much greater
width and height than the modern Falls
of Niagara. Ages passed away, and at
last Upper Canada slowly arose above
! the waters. The Niagara river then
came into existence, being at first a
| broad, shallow channel devoid of falls
| or rapids. During the early ages of
| this period the ewaters of Ontario were
on a level with the escapement at
| Queensten, being between two and three
hundred feet higher than at present.
The country between this line of cliffs
and shore was portion of the ancient
bed of the lake.
Other ages rass away, during which
| the Fallssof the st. Lawrence gradually
disappeared. As they diminished in
| height.tf1e lake diminished in area and
! depth, until its waters attained their
present level.
As these ancient falls Disappeared in
| times past, so will those of the Niagara
disappear in time tn come-when its
| waters have eaten their way back to
Lake Erie. More than two-thirds of
| that lake will then become dry land,
and falls will in all probability be form
ed in the Detroit river. In the course
of other ages gorge similar to that be-
| tweens the Falls and Queenston will be
| formed in that and the st. Clair rivers.
Then Lake Huron will be contracted in
| dimensions as the lakes Ontario and
| Erie have been. As the Falls of St.
| Lawrence disappeared those of Niagara
came into existence at Queenston and
| as the level of Ontario decreased, the
height of the newly formed cataract in
creased.
The Niagara river flows over two
| fiat table lands. One of these is of con-
siderable extent, embracing large por-
tions of Ontario and adjoining States.
| It terminates suddenly in an abrupt
| line of cliffs at Queenston or Lewiston,
| when the second table land commences.
! The latter extends all around the
/ shores of Lake Ontario, its breadth
| varying from few feet to several miles.
The escapement which forms the line
| of demarcation between these table
lands was, as aforesaid, the former
shore of the lake. The waters of On
tario were then many yards higher
than they are at present, and on their
way to the sea tumbled over falls in the
| st. Lawrence which were of greater al
titude than are those of Niagara. The
Lochine Rapids may be the modern
representation of these "defunct''
cataracts. Lake Erie, situated in a de-
preston of the first and larger of the
| two table lands alluded to, had an ele-
vation of about 120 feet from Lake On
tario. That is to say, the Niagara river
| from its source in Erie to its termina-
| ton in Ontario, had a descent (plus a
small fall at Queenstown) of more than
40 yards. There were then no falls in
the Niagara river, but as the level of
the lake decreased the falls at Queens
| ton increased in height from a few feet
to more than one hundred yards. There
are numerous indications on either
bank of the existence of an ancient
| river bed, more than 300 feet above the
water mark in the present gorge. The
shores of this original channel can be
easily traced along the line of theriyer
and the soil on their margin contains
| shells of creatures of the same species
of those which may still be found in
the waters of the Upper Niagara. The
| river at that time was on an average
about mile wide, or about eleven
times its present width below the falls
The following table exhibits the prob
able descent of the river in former
times compared with that of the
present day.