Source: The author via Tina Chivers.
Category: Children’s Poetry
The Wonderful Leaps of Sam Patch by Anonymous
[n.b. This is the Niagara section only]

From The Wonderful Leaps of Sam Patch, c1870
Next, to Niagara thousands flock,
To see him jump from Table Rock,
Into these waters, thunder-hurled,
The seventh wonder of the world.
Folks swarmed on bank and giddy ledge,
On dangerous precipice’s edge,
Nay, really, it has been said,
They stood one on the other’s head,
To get a view when gallant Sam,
Came cool (and modest as a clam),
Pausing upon the trembling verge
To list to what might prove his dirge!
The sun was red, the cliffs aglow,
And foaming white the gulf below,
As Sammy turned his fearless eye
From crowded earth to brilliant sky,
And boldly took the fearful leap
Down, down, into the seething deep!
Each breath was held, each eye was strained—
Huzzah! at last the bank he’s gained!
A shake, a gasp, his breath to catch—
“Now! who will laugh at Samuel Patch?”
‘T was there Sam made his greatest dive—
Feet—full one hundred and sixty-five!
Source: The Wonderful Leaps of Sam Patch. Rochester, NY: Len Rosenberg, Rochester Collection. Reproduction of a book originally published by Len Rosenberg in the 1870s.

From Official Guide Niagara Falls, River. Electric, Historic, Geologic, Hydraulic by Peter A. Porter with illustrations by Charles D Arnold published 1901. Image courtesy of Niagara Falls Public Library
Sam Patch did not jump from Table Rock as mentioned in the poem and as shown in the illustration. in 1829 he constructed a 120 foot high platform at the base of Goat Island and jumped from there, as depicted in the illustration.
Sam Patch in The Craftsman:
World Wonder by Betty J. Beam
(a children’s poem)
Cataracts cascading
Sun shining
Mist mounting
Rainbows arching
Rapids roaring
Gulls soaring
Blossoms blooming
People peering
Picture making
Breath taking
World wonder
Niagara Falls
Source: The author, 2001
A Pioneer’s Prayer by Betty J. Beam
(a children’s poem)
The forests tall
The waterfall
The fish and birds
The buffalo herds —
This wilderness, God bless!
Our freedom’s birth
The men of worth
The fertile soil
The strength to toil —
This little town, God bless!
The ocean’s tide
The prairies wide
The mountain heights
The northern lights —
This Canada, God bless!
Source: The Author, 2001
The Niagara River by Betty J. Beam
(a children’s poem)
Wild white water is
Boil, cascade
Roil, cannonade
Crash, flume
Splash, spume
Drench, glide
Stench, slide
Gush, leap
Rush, sweep
Lunge, pollution
Plunge, solution
Outpour, overflow
Uproar, undertow
Turbulence, spray
Violence, ricochet
Stream, swirl
Steam, whirl
Penned power
Source: The Author, 2001.

