Category: mcom

We can recognize Niagara today as a haven for all peoples looking for a fantastic vacation. The attractions and festivities are fun for all creeds and colors, all sizes and shapes. Even the splendor of the falls themselves is appealing to all sorts — it’s basically undeniable that the falls are wondrous to behold no matter where you come from.

However, before Niagara became a vacationer’s wonderland — even before Europeans “discovered” the new world — Niagara was populated and revered by America’s very first travelers: American Indians. If you like to read up on the history of a place when you plan your vacation, here’s a brief exploration of Niagara’s native population.

Hunting and Gathering

Nomadic peoples first discovered the Niagara region around 12,000 years ago, right when the falls first started to form. These primary inhabitants were members of the Clovis culture of nomads in North America. These people are recognizable in archaeological digs throughout North America by their unique and revolutionary method of chipping stones for weapons and tools. Most likely, these first inhabitants settled seasonally along the shores of Lake Eerie to hunt the migrating caribou, moose, elk and mastodons. One of these earliest groups called themselves the Onguiaahra, which is suspected as being the inspiration for the modern name Niagara.

Hunter-gatherers roamed the area for a little less than nine thousand years, through both the Archaic and Woodland periods. During this time, small groups would stay in the area year around, including the harsh winters, but large groups would migrate to the area during lush and fruitful summers to hunt deer and moose as well participate in mass fishing initiatives along the lakes and rivers.

The Beginning of Agriculture

In the Woodland period, the Iroquois began cultivating the soils around Niagara for agriculture, planting corn, beans and squash to fill the bulk of their diet. With food needs covered, the Iroquois were able to establish more permanent communities with palisaded villages and surprisingly large populations.

Various complex cultural rituals were introduced during this period, including burial ceremonies and ceramic creation, and more complicated political systems came into being with the enhanced importance of kinship ties.

Of the Iroquois confederacy, the most prolific in the Niagara region was the Atiquandaronk tribe. These groups, like many of the Iroquois, lived communally in huge longhouses segmented into areas for different kinships and classes.

The Invasion of Europeans

French explorers were the first of the white settlers to discover the Niagara region. They renamed the resident American Indian groups the “Neutral” tribes, though they included more than nine different tribes under this single moniker. The promise of trade from the wealthy and exotic Europeans as well as age-old disagreements encouraged inter-tribe fighting, which led to the degeneration of the native cultures.

Additionally, the introduction of European missionaries as well as various European diseases and wars led to diminished native population and influence. After the War of 1812, virtually all of the native tribes had vacated the area or began assimilating (as best they could) with the European towns. Today, the Iroquois Nation still exists and continues to fight for the land and rights stripped of them by various European groups.

If you’d like to learn more about Niagara Falls, its history and its peoples, make sure to stop by the Niagara Falls History Museum during your stay.

Niagara Falls is a vacation destination for couples, families and groups of all kinds. So, it seems totally natural that famous people love to come and spend time watching the splendor of the falls and experiencing the thrill the falls instill. Niagara Falls has been a must-see location for centuries, and celebrities from every decade have graced the shores of the river to behold the wonder and beauty. Though there are truly too many to name, here are a few of the more outstanding celebrities of the present and past who have visited Niagara Falls.

Jerome Bonaparte

Though perhaps he is not the most recognized of the Bonaparte brothers — his older sibling Napoleon certainly stole the show with his militaristic antics — Jerome and his wife chose to honeymoon in Niagara Falls, which kicked off Niagara’s moniker “Honeymoon Capitol of the World.” Reportedly, Jerome and his wife traveled all the way from New Orleans by stagecoach to see the magnificence of the falls. Other famous faces of the time were then inspired to visit for their honeymoons, and a tradition was born amongst the laypeople as well.

King George VI

In the past couple of years, good King George VI has received quite a lot of press from the release of a movie chronicling his battle with a speech impediment, “The King’s Speech.” However, the movie failed to depict a famous and fantastic voyage the king and his family made to Niagara Falls in 1934. You can learn more about the king’s trip by visiting the statue erected in his honor during your own stay in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Marilyn Monroe

Niagara Falls’ popularity has made it a hot spot for movie production as well as a vacationer’s dream. The mystical feeling of the falls as well as their known ability to encourage passionate love has inspired many a filmmaker to set his or her film amidst the falls. Marilyn Monroe’s hit movie “Niagara,” a film noir following two honeymooners to the region, was shot on location in Niagara, as there was no other way to accurately capture the true essence of the falls.

Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple made headlines earlier in her career by visiting Niagara Falls. Though her trip took place after she was quite grown and in fact married — her name changed to Shirley Temple-Black — the lively and jovial child actress continued to captivate with her beauty and charm.

Princess Di With Prince William and Prince Harry

That enigmatic and important princess of England came to Niagara with her two young sons in tow in 1991. Princess Diana participated in several popular Niagara attractions, many of which are still active today. If you want to see Niagara like a princess, be sure to book a ticket on Hornblower Niagara Cruises (formerly Maid of the Mist), which brings you right up close to the bottom of the falls, and take a few walks around the surrounding parks and hiking trails.

In every small town, there is a place that local legend — true or not — has turned into a place of mystery. There’s always that one spot — a long-abandoned building, an old graveyard, a clearing in the woods — that’s rumored to be haunted and where people go to either discover the truth for themselves or just be scared out of their wits.

In Niagara Falls, Ontario, that place is the Screaming Tunnel, located in the northwest corner of the city, off Warner Road. For decades, the tunnel has been the place where local teens prove their bravery and where ghost hunters visiting the Niagara Falls region attempt to see some paranormal activity live and in-person.

From Practicality to Paranormal

The Screaming Tunnel is often believed to be an abandoned railroad tunnel, but the 125-foot long tunnel was actually constructed to allow for drainage under what is now Canadian National Railways. The tunnel was constructed so that water could safely drain from the surrounding farmlands without washing out the train tracks and so that farmers, equipment and animals could pass safely under the tracks instead of over them and risk being hit by an oncoming train.

Today, though, there aren’t many local farmers leading cows and sheep through the tunnel, and most of the visitors come equipped with wooden matches, hoping to experience the phenomenon that gives the tunnel its name.

Local Legends

According to local lore, in order to experience hear the screams that give the tunnel its name, you must walk halfway into the tunnel at night, without any lanterns, flashlights or other illumination. Once you’re in the middle of the tunnel, the legend says, you must light a single wooden match. When the flames go out, you’ll hear the sounds of a girl screaming from somewhere in the tunnel.

The identity of the screaming girl is unclear, as there are several versions of the story. In one version, the screams are those of a young girl who escaped a nearby farmhouse that had caught fire; her clothing was on fire and she ran into the tunnel to try to extinguish the flames, but died in the process. In another version, the girl is the daughter of a couple in the throes of a contentious divorce, and the father burned her in the tunnel to avoid losing custody. In the third, and arguably most disturbing version, the screams are those of a young girl who was attacked and killed in the tunnel and then burned to hide the evidence.

Regardless of local lore, there have never been any confirmed incidents of such crimes inside the tunnel, nor any identification of whom the screams could actually belong to. Nonetheless, the Screaming Tunnel continues to draw visitors from both the local area and ghost-obsessed tourists from around the world who want to try to hear the screams for themselves. Of course, the fact that scenes from the Stephen King film “The Dead Zone” were filmed here doesn’t hurt its popularity with tourists at all.

So what do you think? Will you brave The Screaming Tunnel on your next visit to Niagara Falls? If you do, make sure you don’t forget to bring a single wooden match — and maybe your running shoes.