Niagaras of Ink

Book excerpt: Niagara Falls is a place where lands are contested, industry debated, freedom harbored, the spirit uplifted, and fame won. It overflows with stories. Since before digital technologies made visual reproduction easier and more abundant than ever, writers composed Niagara Falls as symbolically meaningful. But in the face of four centuries of writing on this natural wonder, how does one make these stories new? Niagaras of Ink collects anecdotes of famous writers' experiences—previously untold tales, unique takes on well-known visits, and materials just too good to exclude—with an anthology of some of the most engaging Anglo-American writing on the Falls from the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. This collection invites readers to re-see Niagara through these lenses.