Bridges 20 & 21, Port Colborne, ca. 1930 by Charles Walter Simpson
Spirit of the Big Ditch : The Story of the Welland Canalsin Pictures, Poems and Songs, edited by Prof. Emeritus Rob Taylor of Brock University, author of 8 books and numerous articles on the 4 iterations of the Welland Canal.
an anthology of poems, songs and illustrations celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Mr. Merritt’s “Big Ditch.”
45 poems and songs tell the story of the Welland Canals from 1824 to the present
full colour artwork reproductions, early photographs, and other illustrations
Published by The Historical Society of St. Catharines, December 2023, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the groundbreaking of the 1st Welland Canal in 1824.
Sam Patch Jumping at Niagara Falls 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.
Platform built at the base of Goat Island for Sam Patch’s Jump in 1829. 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.
A mountain of snow and Ice almost reaching the crest of the American Falls at Niagara Falls Undated photo by Gisela Scholz. Image courtesy of Niagara Falls Public Library
I am shown
a generosity
so muddied
at the muddy bottom
of a question I forget to ask
until it’s fished out
but bloated but
in the manner of a net
a web of causal connections
attached to its corners
The path is worn.
A scar scorched through the forest by an untold number of travelers.
The sky is gray.
What leaves remain on the trees are at rest.
Silent.
Still.
Looking down, a pair of legs are moving forward but no steps are heard.
How long have they been walking?
Looking up, the path, with long snow kissed grass skirting the sides stretches on without end.
To the left an unseen cliff, to the right a spacious field filled with unremarkable flora.
The pace quickens to combat an incessant chill.
How much longer to go?
His legs ache. A glance backwards reveals nothing as the path melts away into black. The further he walks the more darkness gathers behind.
With eyes now forward on the perennial view, he feels a weakening resolve and for the first time, a shortening stride.
Ahead, a soft bend is revealed.
A new breeze arouses the leaves while the mute footsteps become perceptible.
Rounding the bend.
The once impenetrable clouds disperse to reveal a warming sun, a distinct tune from a bird and a flower in bloom.
Entranced by the surprising change he carelessly slows to a saunter while the bend hardens in front of him.
Warm turns to hot turns to blazing.
The song turns to noise turns to a cry.
The grass thickens and encroaches on the path with sharpened blades.
A wince.
As he shields his eyes from the light he kicks towards the intruding growth and launches into a blind run.
The color flushes away and the noise fades to a hum, to a dead calm.
Defeated, he opens his eyes and fixes them back on the straightened path.
Silent.
Still.
Myles Calvert
Source: Myles Calvert, 2023. Written in May, 2021.
The location of “the path” is heavily influenced by a hiking trail at Decew Falls / Morningstar Mill. As you walk along away from the waterfall there is a cliff on your left and at times an open field to your right.
Those who have walked it before may know it well and recognize the descriptions (although the waterfall is not mentioned in The Path).
Niagara Falls From Goat Island, 1857 Print by Currier & Ives. Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Niagara Falls are a wonderful scene, Regularly calculated to make the mind serene ;
With their mighty dash and tremendous spray,
They roll and they roll, repeatedly every day !”
**********************************************
These Falls have never been congealed completely,
In this, weak men are agreed, neatly!
Source: X. Y. “Poetry of Young America.” The Massachusetts Teacher and Journal of Home and School Education 10, no. 2 (1857): 89–90. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45023974.
