The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1884-11-14
ORIGIN OF NIAGARA.
How the Great Cataract and Gorge
Were Formed.

|
Tho desire to obtain accurate infor-
nation on the subject directed his steps
later to the Office of Dr. Julius Pohl-
man, in the Lewis block. DR.. Pohlman
is one of the most prominent geolo-
gists of these parts.
with great pleasure / will tell you
anything | know about Niagara" said
he. "ln tracing the origin of this river
about whose banks cling such recollec-
tons Of mystery and tragedy, we must
60 away back into the pre-glacial
times when the bed of the great lakes
was occupied by river and Tonawan-
da valley contained lake fifty miles
in length and from ten to twenty miles
in width, with q possible maximum
depth of sixty feet. The northern bar
rier of the lake was of limestone for
nation. Being about fifty feet lower
than the southern one, the overflow of
water was toward the Ontario valley.
The outlet found its way into the pres
ent channel of Niagara river some
where near the upper rapids of the
river above the falls
From here the waters met no OBJ
stacle, and in their flow predetermined
the river gorge between the falls and
the whirlpool, and continued in u
straight course north, through the side
of the whirlpool, and thence through
the valley OF St. Dayid's in Canada
and onward through the Ontario val
ley. have made careful searches,
and find this track of the river from
the whirlpool through Canada. BY
and by the Tonawanda lake began TO
subside, and finally was reduced to
river with a wide, low valley on each
side. The course of the river in max
inc its way out of the valley of the an
cient lake changed. 1t flowed into the
channel Of the present Niagara where
the present Tonawanda river enters
now. 1t curved around the southern
margin of Grand Island, which formed
shallow part of the northern margin
Of the lake, and had arisen Us q PENN
sula in the course of time, and then
flowed north into the original channel
of the outlet, thus determining the two
branches OF the present river. The
branch of the Niagara which separates
the island from the main land is of
quite modern origin, as testified to by
soundings. Well, the erosion across
the thin bed of Niagara limestone nat
urally cut one or the other parts Of the
outlet deeper than the rest, and coniin-
ing the smaller channels gave birth to
number of larger and smaller islands,
known at present as Goat, Bath, Lunu,
the Sisters, and so forth.
The branches of the river joined
again into one stream as they APP
preached the heavy Niagara limestone
at about the site of the new suspension,
or foot bridge, and rushed north for
about three-quartcrs Of mile, whore
they fell over precipice of about one
hundred feet. Goat island extended
northerly in a triangular prolongation
with its apex somewhere abreast Of the
northern end of the present American
fall. Below this fall of one hundred
feet that have just spoken OF therver
descended in rapids over the shale UNI
til it encountered the Clinton limestone
near the railway suspension bridge,
where it took another leap. From here
a short rapid carried it to the entrance
Of the whirlpool, where another fall
was caused by quartzose sandstone Of
the Medina group. Thence there was
rapid current to Ontario basin, The
volume Of water then was exceedingly
small as compared with the estimated
twenty million cubic feet of the pres
ent Now, at the time of the glacial
period the movement Of the ice sheet
was in northeasterly direction. The
chanGel Of the great river which | re-
marked about in the beginning was ex-
cavated deeply and the valley Of tho
great lakes was formed. When the
Arctic climate again changed into
temperate one, the ice sheet rctreated
northward and in its melting spread
over the land all the ground-up mater
ial as well as the rocks which had been
caught up and carried under, and the
valleys of ST. Dayids, Tonawanda, and
others were more or less completely
illIed up with drift. Tho channel Of
the old Tonawanda river from the
Whirlpool was also included in the fill
ing process. After long ages the ice
disappeared and the bed it had occu-
pied became the seat of the chain Of
great lakes, AT this time Lakes Eric
and Ontario formed two large bodies
OF water and were at the same level
mat is, their surfaces were even with
Lewiston heights. The waters in tho
lakes began to subsde and mud flat
appeared between them, extending
from Buffalo to Lewiston. An outlet
from Lake Eric was formed through
this nat and we have the present Mag
ara riyer.n
~ have always been taught that
Niagara Falls were originally at Lewis
ton' and wore their way back" said
the reporter.
That is the popular theory, but ii is
erroneous. In that case We must SUP.
pose That Lake Ontario was lower
primarily than Lake Erie 1t was not.
! nave found traces of the beach which
us surface touched up on the mountain
SIDE Both lakes subsidized together,
ana Niagara river wore out its present
channel in flowing from one lake to an
other. Or course you understand IL
mas required ages, thousands Of years,
TO accomplish this work"
| "Why didn't the river follow tho old