Niagara Falls.

Port of Buffalo on Lake Erie, 1815Port of Buffalo on Lake Erie, 1815

Port of Buffalo on Lake Erie, 1815

Although the neighborhood was the scene of various operations during the War of Independence, not a single white settler was living on the site of the present city when the federal constitution was adopted in 1787, and the town wasnot laid out till after the second presidency of Washington. In 1801 Joseph Ellicott, sometimes called the "Father of Buffalo," plotted the site for a town, calling it New Amsterdam but the name of Buffalo Creek or Buffalo proved more popular. Ellicott was the agent of a group of Dutch capitalists called the Holland Land Co., who purchased a large tract of land for speculative purposes in the neighborhood of Buffalo (1792).

At an early period (1784) the present site of the city of Buffalo had come to be known as the "Buffalo Creek region," either from the herds of buffalo or bison, which, according to Indian tradition, had frequented the salt licks of the creek, or more probably for some Indian chief.

During the War of 1812 Buffalo was a frontier town, and, owing to its position on Lake Erie, very close to an important theater of operations. The first gun of the war is said to have been fired on Aug. 13, by a battery at Black Rock, then a rival, now a suburb of Buffalo, and shortly afterwards British soldiers from the Canadian garrison at Ft. Erie (directly across the Niagara River from Buffalo) made a raid into Buffalo harbour and captured the schooner "Connecticut." The Americans replied with a brilliant exploit in which Lieut. Jesse D. Elliott (1782-1845) crossed the river and captured the "Detroit" and the "Caledonia" under the guns of Ft. Erie.

The ruins of Ft. Erie are among the most picturesque features of the region about Buffalo. The fort was captured in 1814 by an American force under Gen. Winfield Scott, and was held by the Americans till the end of the war, despite the efforts of a British besieging force to dislodge them. At the close of hostilities the Americans blew up the fort.

In the following spring (1812) five of the gunboats used by Capt. Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie were fitted out in the harbour at Buffalo. Perry's victory, however, did not save the little settlement from an attack in Dec. of that year in which Gen. Sir Phineas Riall and a force of 1,200 British and Indians captured the town and almost completely destroyed it. After the war the town was rebuilt, and grew rapidly. In 1818, near where La Salle in 1679 built his little sailing vessel, the "Griffin," a group of N.Y. capitalists completed the "Walk-in-the-Water," the first steamboat on the Great Lakes. The completion of the Erie Canal, seven years later, with Buffalo as its western terminus, greatly increased the city's importance. At Buffalo in 1848 met the Free Soil convention that nominated Martin Van Buren for the presidency and Charles Francis Adams for the vice-presidency.Grover Cleveland lived in Buffalo from 1855 until 1884, when he was elected president.

Stephen Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) was born, fifth in a family of nine children, in the town of Caldwell, Essex County, N.J. He came of good colonial stock, but the death of his father prevented his receiving a college education. About 1855 he drifted westward with $25 in his pocket, and not long afterward began to read law in a law office in Buffalo, where he was admitted to the bar in 1859. He was assistant district attorney of Erie County, of which Buffalo is the chief city, in 1863, was elected sheriff on the Democratic ticket in 1869, and mayor of Buffalo in 1881, although the city was normally Republican. As mayor he attracted wide attention by his independence and business-like methods—qualities which distinguished his entire career. After his election as governor in the following year, the Democratic party chose him as their candidate against James G. Blaine. He was the first Democrat to be elected president for 24 years. His administration was marked by firmness and justice; he stood staunchly by the new civil service law, and during his first term vetoed 413 bills, more than two-thirds of which were private pension bills. He vigorously attacked the high tariff laws then in effect, but the administration tariff bill was blocked by his Republican opponents. In 1888 Cleveland was defeated for re-election by Benjamin Harrison, but in 1892 he was again nominated and defeated President Harrison by a large majority. The most important event of his second administration was the repeal of the silver legislation which had been a growing menace for 15 years. The panic of 1893 was accompanied by an outbreak of labor troubles, the most serious of which was the Pullman strike at Chicago (1894). When Gov. Altgeld of Illinois failed to act, President Cleveland sent troops to Chicago to clear the way for mail trains, and the strike was settled within a week. He also acted decisively in the Venezuela affair, with the result that Great Britain agreed to arbitrate on terms which safeguarded the national dignity on both sides. At the end of his term, Cleveland retired to Princeton, N.J.

The Pan-American Exposition in celebration of the progress of the Western Hemisphere in the 19th century, was held here May 1-Nov. 2, 1901. It was during a reception in the Temple of Music on the Exposition grounds that President McKinley was assassinated on Sept. 6. He died at the home of John A. Milburn, the president of the exposition.

President McKinley's assassin was Leon Czolgosz, a young man of Polish parentage, who shot the president with a revolver at close range. For a while it was thought that the president would recover, but he collapsed and died on Sept. 14, 1901. Czolgosz professed to belong to the school of anarchists who believe in violence. He was executed in October, 1901.

Buffalo today has broad and spacious streets and a park system (1,229 acres) of unusual beauty. The largest park is Delaware Park (362 acres), on the north side of the city. This park is adjoined on the south by the Forest Lawn Cemetery which contains monuments to Millard Fillmore and the Indian chief "Red Jacket."

Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), 13th president of the U.S., was born in East Aurora, a little village 14 M. from Buffalo, and practiced law in Buffalo. He served several terms as member of Congress and in 1848 was elected vice-president on the Whig ticket, with Zachery Taylor as president. President Taylor died July 9, 1850, and on the next day Fillmore took the oath of office as his successor. He favored the "Compromise Measures," designed to pacify the South, and signed the Fugitive Slave Law. In 1852 he was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination for the presidency at the Whig National Convention.Red Jacket (1751-1830) was a famous Seneca chief and friend of the whites. He was faithful to the whites when approached by Tecumseh and the "Prophet" in their scheme to combine all of the Indians from Canada to Florida in a great Confederacy. In the War of 1812, he assisted the Americans. By many he was considered the greatest orator of his race.

Red Jacket (1751-1830) was a famous Seneca chief and friend of the whites. He was faithful to the whites when approached by Tecumseh and the "Prophet" in their scheme to combine all of the Indians from Canada to Florida in a great Confederacy. In the War of 1812, he assisted the Americans. By many he was considered the greatest orator of his race.

To the west of the park are the grounds of the Buffalo State Hospital for the Insane. Overlooking the lake on a cliff 60 ft. high, is the park known as "The Front," the site of Ft. Porter, which has a garrison of U.S. Soldiers.

The University of Buffalo, organized in 1845, has about 1,000 students and comprises schools of medicine, law, dentistry and pharmacy. Other educational institutions of Buffalo are the Canisius College, a Roman Catholic (Jesuit) institution for men, and the Martin Luther Seminary, aTheological seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Buffalo has several fine public buildings, including the Albright Art Gallery (white marble), the Buffalo Historical Society Building (in Delaware Park), the Public Library (valued at $1,000,000), and the City Hall and County Building ($1,500,000). Since 1914 Buffalo has been under the commission form of government.

Almost equidistant from Chicago and N.Y.C., the city of Buffalo, by reason of its favorable location in respect to lake transportation and its position on the principal northern trade route between the East and the West, has become one of the important commercial and industrial centres in the Union. Originally, the harbour was only the shallow mouth of the Buffalo River, but it has been greatly enlarged and improved by extensive federal work. The Welland Canal, about 25 M. west of Buffalo, connects Lake Erie with the St. Lawrence River. The annual tonnage of the port of Buffalo is upwards of 20,000,000 tons. The total export trade is close to $100,000,000. Besides being the first port in the country in handling horses, sheep, cattle and hogs, it receives immense quantities of lumber, pig iron and ore and has more than a score of huge grain elevators with a capacity of about 30,000,000 bushels.

In the manufacturing field it has two great advantages: a supply of natural gas and almost unlimited electric power from Niagara Falls. Its total annual output is valued at approximately $400,000,000, and its manufactures include meat packing, foundry and machine shop products, flour, steel, linseed oil, railroad cars, clothing, chemicals, furniture, automobiles, jewelry, confectionery and tobacco.

Buffalo is connected with the Canadian shore by ferry and by the International Bridge, completed in 1873 at a cost of $1,500,000.

Niagara Falls, while it is not on the main route to Chicago is best reached from Buffalo, from which it is only 32 miles distant, and travellers so easily can stop over to make the little side trip that it is virtually a part of the journey westward.

The fall of Niagara in the Province of New York.A Colonial Print (1762) in the N.Y. Public Library

The fall of Niagara in the Province of New York.

A Colonial Print (1762) in the N.Y. Public Library

Of the seven natural wonders of the American world, which are given as Yellowstone Park, Garden of the Gods, Mammoth Cave, Niagara Falls, the Natural Bridge, Yosemite Valley, and the Giant Trees of California, by far the greatest spectacle is Niagara. The name means "thunder of the waters," and was given by the early Indianswho regarded the falls with a quite comprehensible religious awe. Today there are more than a million and a half visitors annually.

Probably the first white man to discover the Falls was Etienne Brulé, an associate and trusted comrade of Champlain; but the first chronicler and the man to whom honour of discovery is usually given, is Father Hennepin, founder of the monastery at Ft. Frontenac in Quebec, who in 1678 joined La Salle's Mississippi expedition, and pushing on a few days journey ahead of his commander, came upon the wonderful waters described in hisLouisiane Nouvelle(1698). The French built some trading posts here and their influence prevailed until 1759, when the British, driving the French northward overthrew their fortifications and took possession of the land. When the Revolution broke out some years later, the Indians, terrible and unscrupulous wagers of guerilla warfare, fought on the British side.

The Niagara River, upon which the Falls are situated, 22 M. from its head in Lake Erie, and 14 M. from its mouth in Lake Ontario, forms the outlet of four of the five Great Lakes (Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior). It descends about 330 ft. in its course of 36 M. About 15 M. from Lake Erie the river narrows and the rapids begin. In the last three quarters of a mile above the falls, the water descends 55 ft. and the velocity is enormous. The basin of the Falls has a depth of from 100 to 192 ft. During cold winters the spray covers the grass and trees in the park along the cliff with a delicate veneer of ice, while below the Falls it is tossed up and frozen into a solid arch. Adjoining the left (Canadian) bank is the greater division, Horseshoe Fall, 155 ft. high and curving to a breadth of 2,600 ft. The American Fall, adjoining the right bank, is 162 ft. high and about 1,400 ft. broad. In recognition of their æsthetic value the province of Ontario and the State of New York have reserved the adjacent land as public parks. In the midst of the Rapids lies a little group of islands, among them the famous Goat Island. Besides the wonderful view it affords, its western end gives a unique example of absolutely virgin forest.

The Indians used to fish and hunt, crossing the Rapids on foot and supporting their steps with tall wooden poles spiked with iron. The necessity, on one occasion, of saving two marooned comrades on the island, taught them this means of crossing, which they had never before attempted.

The Niagara River runs half its length on an upper plain, then drops at the falls into a narrow gorge through whichit courses seven miles to the escarpment, the crest of which is a bed of limestone—60 ft. thick at the falls. The water plunges into a deep basin hollowed out of soft shale, which, as well as the escarpment, is being constantly worn away. The site of the cataract retreats upstream and the gorge is lengthened at a rate of about five ft. a year. It is evident that the whole gorge has been dug out by the river, and many attempts have been made to determine the time consumed in the work. The solution of the problem would aid in establishing a relation between the periods and ages of geologic time and the centuries of human chronology. The Horseshoe Fall wore its cliff back 335 ft. in about 63 years. Geologists have computed 25,000 years as a lower limit for plausible estimates of the river, but have been able to set no upper limit.

The Canadian and American shores are connected by three bridges, one of which a suspension carrying all classes of traffic, is 1,240 ft. long. The flow of water in the river averages 222,000 cubic ft. per second, though it sometimes falls as low as 176,000 cubic ft.

On March 29, 1848, Niagara ran dry, and persons walked in the rocky channel bed of the American Rapids between Goat Island and the mainland. This phenomenon, never known before or since, was due to these facts. Lake Erie was full of floating ice flowing to its outlet, the source of Niagara River. During the previous afternoon a heavy northeast wind had driven the ice back into the lake, and during the night the wind, suddenly veering, blew a gale from the west which forced the ice floe sharply into a mass in the narrow channel of the river, where it froze. Thus, when the water on the lower side of the barrier drained off, the Niagara River and the American Fall were dry, and the Canadian Fall a mere trickle. This extraordinary condition lasted for a whole day.

Thus the descent of this stream at the Falls and in the Rapids just above them gives in theory a water-power of nearly 4,000,000 lip., three-fourths of which is estimated as available.

This maximum could be obtained only by sacrificing the beauty of the Falls—in fact diverting the river from its channel so that the cataract as a scenic feature would be destroyed. To combat this commercial vandalism an association for the protection of the Falls has been formed.

There were before 1918 several companies with power-producing plants, the largest of which was the Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power and Manufacturing Company.

This company had made an extensive beginning in utilization of the water fall by a tunnel 29 ft. deep and 18 ft. wide, passing about 200 ft.. below the surface of the city from a point 1¼ M. above the Falls to the upper steel arch bridge.

In 1918, when added power was needed for the more rapid production of war materials, the various companies consolidated with the Niagara Falls Power Company. In May of that year the intake from the Niagara River and the hydraulic canal were deepened, and three hydro-electric units—the largest in the world today—were installed, with the result that an extension of 100,000 hp. was developed, making the total of the station 250,000 hp.

510 M. DUNKIRK, Pop. 19,366.(Train3passes8:23; No.41, 1:00; No.25, 12:45; No.19, 4:57. Eastbound: No.6passes10:24; No.26,11:26; No.16, 3:10; No.22, 6:08.)

(Train3passes8:23; No.41, 1:00; No.25, 12:45; No.19, 4:57. Eastbound: No.6passes10:24; No.26,11:26; No.16, 3:10; No.22, 6:08.)

Dunkirk, settled about 1805, has a fine harbour and extensive lake trade, and lies, moreover, in fertile agricultural and grape-growing country. The property of the town, assessed at $10,000,000 is chiefly in factories producing locomotives, radiators and other steel and iron products, wagons, silk gloves, and concrete blocks. There are several pleasant parks, of which Gratiot and Washington are the largest. Brocton (519 M.) and Westfield (526 M.) are junctions for travellers bound for Chautauqua (about 20 M. south of Brocton on Chautauqua Lake), the principal seat of the Chautauqua educational movement.

The Chautauqua movement, instituted more than 46 years ago in the west, has here its largest station. Each summer 15,000 or 20,000 people from all over the country assemble here to take courses in a great variety of subjects, from Italian Primitivism to Camp Cookery. Chautauqua makes its chief appeal, perhaps, to the middle-aged and elderly who in their youth were working too hard to have had any opportunities for study.

Just beyond Ripley (534 M.) we cross the state line into Pennsylvania.

557 M. ERIE, Pop. 93,372.(Train3passes9:30; No.41, 2:06; No.25, 1:36; No.19, 5:59. Eastbound No.6passes9:25; No.26,10:30; No.16, 2:03; No.22, 5:08.)

(Train3passes9:30; No.41, 2:06; No.25, 1:36; No.19, 5:59. Eastbound No.6passes9:25; No.26,10:30; No.16, 2:03; No.22, 5:08.)

Erie stands on the site of the old French fort Presque Isle, built in 1753 and surrounded by a village of a few hundred inhabitants. Although Washington protested on behalf of the Governor of Va. against the French occupation of this territory, it remained in French hands until 1758 when an epidemic of small-pox broke out, making the fort untenable. Two years later the British seized it, and three years after the Indians, rising against their white rulers in the Conspiracy of Pontiac, took possession. In 1765 the British recaptured the fort and kept it until 1785, when it passed into the possession of the U.S. Gen. Anthony Wayne, who was given the task of occupyingthe lake posts delivered up by the English, came here soon after to negotiate the famous treaty of Greenville with the Indians in 1795. He died in 1796 at Erie.

Old Block House At ErieCertain hostile tribes in northwest of Ohio who had defeated Gen. St. Clair in 1791, sent away in scorn a mission asking permission for white men to settle beyond the Ohio (1793). Wayne, angry at this insolence, gathered together some troops of the recently organized American army and after having given the Indians one more chance of a peaceable settlement, defeated them thoroughly in the battle of Fallen Timbers, 80 miles north of Cincinnati. By the resulting treaty of Greenville, he opened up the northwest to civilization.

Old Block House At Erie

Certain hostile tribes in northwest of Ohio who had defeated Gen. St. Clair in 1791, sent away in scorn a mission asking permission for white men to settle beyond the Ohio (1793). Wayne, angry at this insolence, gathered together some troops of the recently organized American army and after having given the Indians one more chance of a peaceable settlement, defeated them thoroughly in the battle of Fallen Timbers, 80 miles north of Cincinnati. By the resulting treaty of Greenville, he opened up the northwest to civilization.

In spite of the necessary severity of the punishment meted out to the Indians by the new government through the agency of Wayne, no part of Washington's administration, domestic or foreign, was more original or more benign than the policy he constantly urged toward them. To save them from the frauds of traders a national system of trade was adopted, and a number of laws were passed to protect them from the aggressions of borderers, as well as to secure them in the rights allowed them in their treaties.

The battle of Lake Erie (1813) was closely associated with the city. Here were Perry's headquarters during the War of 1812, and here he built in less than six months many of the vessels with which he won his naval victory over the British.

Erie is now an important manufacturing centre, the products of which are valued at between $40,000,000 and $50,000,000. A large branch of the General Electric Co. is here, besides important factories for flour and grist mill products, paper and wood pulp, organs, petroleum, etc. The leading articles of shipment are lumber, coal, grain and iron ore. Over 1,400 ships a year enter and clear the broad, landlocked harbour. On a bluff overlooking lake and city, is the State Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, and nearby, a monument to Gen. Wayne. Between Springfield (577 M.) and Conneaut we cross the state line into Ohio.

584 M. CONNEAUT, Pop. 9,000.(Train3passes10:08; No.41, 2:39; No.25, 2:04; No.19, 6:34.Eastbound: No. 6 passes8:50; No.26,9:59; No.16, 1:20; No.22, 4:32.)

(Train3passes10:08; No.41, 2:39; No.25, 2:04; No.19, 6:34.Eastbound: No. 6 passes8:50; No.26,9:59; No.16, 1:20; No.22, 4:32.)

The first permanent settlement was made here in 1799 though a preliminary surveying party composed of Moses Cleaveland, the founder of the city of Cleveland, and 50 associates, two of whom were women, had arrived in 1796 and found 20 or 30 cabins of the Massauga tribe.

In his journal Cleaveland gives a description of the arrival here, "on the creek Conneaugh, in New Connecticut Land," July 4, 1796. "We gave three cheers," he continues, "and christened the place Ft. Independence, and, after many difficulties, perplexities and hardships were surmounted and we were on the good and promised land, felt that a just tribute of respect to the day ought to be paid. There were in all, including women and children, 50 in number. The men under Capt. Tinker, ranged themselves on the beach and fired a Federal Salute of 15 rounds, and then the 16th in honor of New Conn. Drank several toasts. Closed with three cheers. Drank several pints of grog. Supped and returned in good order."

After the whites had established themselves, the Indians were driven out for having murdered a settler. The country of Ashtabula in which Conneaut stands was not only the first settled on the Western Reserve, but the first in Northern Ohio, and the town is sometimes called the "Plymouth" of the Western Reserve.

Conneaut, which means in the Seneca language "many fish," is built at the mouth of Conneaut Creek in what is now a thriving agricultural and dairying region on Lake Erie. Besides being an excellent harbour to which coal and ore are shipped, the city has flour and planing mills, tanneries, canneries, and other factories.

595 M. ASHTABULA, Pop. 22,082.(Train 3 passes10:29; No.41, 3:06; No.25, 2:19; No.19, 6:50. Eastbound: No. 6 passes8:34; No.26,9:44; No.16, 1:00; No.22, 4:16.)

(Train 3 passes10:29; No.41, 3:06; No.25, 2:19; No.19, 6:50. Eastbound: No. 6 passes8:34; No.26,9:44; No.16, 1:00; No.22, 4:16.)

Settlers were attracted to the site of the present town of Ashtabula (an Indian word said to mean "fish river") in 1801 by the excellent harbour here, formed by the mouth of the Ashtabula River. The city is built on the high bank of the river about 75 ft. above the lake and commands some fine views. There are large green-houses under glass from which forced fruit and vegetables are shipped to Pittsburgh and other large cities. It is the centre of a prosperous agricultural and dairying region which has been largely settled by Finns.

Ashtabula is one of the most important ports in America for the shipment of iron ore and coal. Iron ore especially, is brought here in enormous quantities by boat and trans-shipped to Pittsburgh. The shipyards and drydocks in the harbour, and the huge machines for loading coal and unloadingore are of great interest. The city has large manufactories of leather, worsted goods, agricultural implements, foundry and machine shop products; and the total value of its output is close to $10,000,000 annually.

602 M. GENEVA, Pop. 3,081.(Train3passes,10:42; No.41, 3:18; No.25, 2:29; No.19, 7:03. Eastbound: No.6passes8:22; No.26,9:32; No.16, 12:39; No.22, 4:02.)

(Train3passes,10:42; No.41, 3:18; No.25, 2:29; No.19, 7:03. Eastbound: No.6passes8:22; No.26,9:32; No.16, 12:39; No.22, 4:02.)

Geneva is built close to the site of the early Indian village Kanadasaga, burnt in 1779.

In that year Gen. Sullivan was despatched at the head of an expedition against the Indians of Western N.Y., who had taken up arms for the British and had been guilty of the terrible Wyoming and Cherry Valley massacres. Kanadasaga was one of the Indian "council hearths" destroyed, and tribes in this region were driven westward, never to recover their old power.

In addition to the lake, there are good mineral springs. According to Duncan Ingraham, a Massachusetts traveller who wrote an account of a journey in 1792, the town then consisted "of about 20 log houses, three or four frame buildings, and as many idle persons as can live in them." Some of these old houses along the main street are of pure Colonial type, and really beautiful. Hobart College, founded 1822, is situated here. Malt, tinware, flour, stoves, wall-paper, etc., are manufactured, and there are also extensive nurseries.

622 M. PAINESVILLE, Pop. 7,272.(Train3passes,11:06; No.41, 3:40; No.25, 2:46; No.19, 7:27. Eastbound: No.6passes8:05; No.26,9:16; No.16, 12:18; No.22, 3:43.)

(Train3passes,11:06; No.41, 3:40; No.25, 2:46; No.19, 7:27. Eastbound: No.6passes8:05; No.26,9:16; No.16, 12:18; No.22, 3:43.)

Painesville was founded in 1800 by settlers from Conn. and N.Y., the chief among whom was Gen. Edward Paine (1745-1841), an ex-officer of the Continental Army. It contains one of the early women's colleges of the country—Lake Erie College, founded in 1859 as the successor to Willoughby Seminary at Willoughby, Ohio, the buildings of which were burned in 1846.

The history of this part of the State includes early episodes of Mormonism. In Painesville was published a book by E.D. Howe purporting to show that "the historical p(art?) of the book of Mormon" was plagiarized from a romance calledThe Manuscript Foundwritten by Solomon Spalding of Conneaut (about 1809). This claim has not been fully verified by later research.

Nine miles southwest of Painesville at Kirtland was (one?) of the early settlements made by Joseph Smith and hisMormon followers. They built here a $40,000 temple (still standing), a teacher's seminary and a bank. The bank failed and Smith had to leave the state to avoid the sheriff. Most of his disciples followed him to Missouri. At Mentor (which we now pass 4 M. west of Painesville) lived Sidney Rigdon, who later became one of the Mormon leaders.

Rigdon (1793-1876) began his preaching career as a Baptist, then helped in establishing a society called the "reformers," and before being converted to Mormonism was pastor of a church in Mentor. He became a Mormon leader, and published a new translation of the Bible, with inserted prophecies of the coming of Joseph Smith. With Hyrum and Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, he moved westward in 1831 preaching, being "persecuted" and establishing an occasional temple. At Far West, a town in Missouri where the Mormons established themselves in 1838, Rigdon preached his "salt sermon," from the Matt. V. 13, urging his hearer to wage a "war of extermination" against all who disturbed them. Following his advice, the Mormons involved themselves in such broils with the "gentiles" that the state militia was called out against them. Smith and Rigdon were arrested, but the former escaped custody and with 15,000 followers, fled to Illinois. When the latter was freed, he joined the "Saints" in the city of Nauvoo which they had founded and was made a professor at their university. After Smith's arrest and murder by a mob in 1849 and the breaking up of Nauvoo, Rigdon disputed with Young for Smith's place. Not only failing to secure it, but being in addition tried for treason in wanting it, the disciple of Mormon returned to the East and spent his last days at Friendship, N.Y. Howe, in the book mentioned above, asserted that Sidney Rigdon was the original "author and proprietor of the Mormon conspiracy."

Near Mentor, also is Lawnfield, the former home of James A. Garfield.

James Abram Garfield (1831-1881), 20th president of the U.S., was born in a log cabin at Orange, Ohio, and began life as a farm hand. He attended for a time the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, afterwards Hiram College, finally entering Williams College from which he graduated, becoming a teacher of ancient languages and literature. Entering politics as a Republican, he was elected to the Ohio Senate in 1859. His Civil War record was striking, and he was made major-general for gallantry at the battle of Chickamauga. He was elected to Congress in 1863, where he attracted attention as a hard worker and ready speaker, and where later he became leader of the Republican party in the House. He was an advocate of drastic measures against the South and considered Lincoln's policies too lenient. At the presidential convention of the Republican Party in 1880, he was nominated on the 36th ballot as a compromise candidate, and in the same year was elected president. On the 2d of July, 1881, while on his way to attend commencement exercises at Williams College, he was shot by Charles G. Giteau, a disappointed office seeker who waylaid him in the Washington Railroad Station. He died Sept. 19, 1881, at Elberon, N.J.

623 M. CLEVELAND, Pop. 796,836.(Train3passes11:55; No.41, 4:35; No.25,3:30; No.19, 8:20. Eastbound: No.6passes7:20; No.26,8:35; No.16,11:30; No.22, 2:56.)

(Train3passes11:55; No.41, 4:35; No.25,3:30; No.19, 8:20. Eastbound: No.6passes7:20; No.26,8:35; No.16,11:30; No.22, 2:56.)

A trading post was established on the present site of Cleveland as early as 1785 and ten years later Capt. Moses Cleaveland, leader of a small band of pioneers and agent of the Connecticut Land Co., surveyed the ground and planted the nucleus of the present thriving city—now fifth in size in the country. Capt. Cleaveland, in travelling from Connecticut into the Northwest, followed closely the present route of the New York Central Lines, crossing N.Y. State to Buffalo and then from Buffalo along the shore of Lake Erie.

Moses CleavelandMoses CleavelandMoses Cleaveland (1754-1806) was born at Canterbury, Conn., and graduated from Yale. After serving in the U.S. Army, where he attained the rank of captain, he practiced law and entered the Connecticut legislature. Later, he organized the Connecticut Land Co., which in 1795 purchased a large portion of the Western Reserve.

Moses Cleaveland

Moses Cleaveland (1754-1806) was born at Canterbury, Conn., and graduated from Yale. After serving in the U.S. Army, where he attained the rank of captain, he practiced law and entered the Connecticut legislature. Later, he organized the Connecticut Land Co., which in 1795 purchased a large portion of the Western Reserve.

At that time the southern shore of Lake Erie was part of the famous Western Reserve territory, consisting of 3,250,000 acres of land, certain parts of which Connecticut ceded to her citizens as compensation for their losses from "fire and damage" at the hands of the British during the Revolutionary War. These lands were sometimes known as "Fire Lands."

The Western Reserve was a part of the territory immediately west of the Pennsylvania line, and extending westward therefrom 120 M. Connecticut held and "reserved" this territory to herself in 1780, when she ceded to the general government all her rights and claims to the other lands in the West. Later Conn. ceded the Reserve itself, but not before she had sold much of it to the Conn. Land Co., and the latter had begun the sale and disposition of all the lands so acquired, east of the Cuyahoga River. Until after 1815no lands west of that river were open to entrance or survey, and settlers ventured there at their own risk. This was the Indian Boundary Line, established in 1795, and beyond it the aborigines had exclusive right of occupancy.

It was for the purpose of surveying and developing these lands that Capt. Cleaveland undertook his expeditions into the Western Reserve. The first of these expeditions (1795) was composed of 50 men, women and children who arrived at Ft. Independence (now Conneaut) on Lake Erie, July 4, 1796. Pushing on further, they arrived at the present site of Cleveland, and in a few days the first log cabin was erected at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River.

City of Cleveland from Reservoir Walk (1873)City of Cleveland from Reservoir Walk (1873)

City of Cleveland from Reservoir Walk (1873)

To keep the commissary supplied was no easy problem in the new settlement. Sometimes they ate boiled rattlesnake in default of anything better. On one occasion, while the little band of settlers was assembled in prayer in one of the log cabins, someone espied a bear swimming across the Cuyahoga River. The coming of the bear was looked upon as providential, and the congregation suspended the prayer-meeting, killed the bear, and then returned to their devotions.

Capt. Cleaveland's plans for his new settlement were ambitious, and he built a number of substantial roads through the forests, usually following the old Indian trails, now the right of way of the New York Central and other lines. With the opening of the Ohio Canal to the Ohio River (1832), Cleveland became the natural outlet on Lake Erie for Ohio'sextensive agricultural and mineral products. The discovery and commercial exploitation (beginning about 1840) of large deposits of iron ore in the Lake Superior region placed Cleveland in a strategic position between these vast ore fields and the coal and oil resources of Ohio, Pa., and W. Va., and it is from this time that the city's great commercial importance really dates.

In 1836 Cleveland had been chartered as a city. The name, though chosen in honour of Capt. Cleaveland, had been abbreviated to its present form some years before. Tradition credits the changed form to a newspaper which left out the letter "a" in order to make the word fit a headline.

The building of the railways during the decade 1850-1860, and the stimulus to industry during the Civil War, when Cleveland supplied large quantities of iron products and clothing to the government, gave impetus to the city's growth. With a population of only 1,076 in 1830 and 6,071 in 1840, Cleveland had become in 1870 a city of 92,829 (more than double its population in 1860). Thirty years later (1900) the population had grown to 381,768 and in 1920 it was 796,836, an increase of 42 per cent over 1910.

The later history of Cleveland has been distinguished for some notable experiments in city planning, popular education and municipal ownership (particularly with respect to street railways). The street railway situation had been a source of trouble ever since 1899, when a strike of serious proportions occurred. Mobs attacked the cars, some of which were blown up with dynamite. In 1901 Tom Johnson was first elected mayor, and, largely as a result of his advocacy, municipal ownership became a greater issue in Cleveland than in any other great city in the country.

Tom Johnson (1854-1911) was a successful business man who entered politics on a reform platform. He was an ardent single-taxer, and in spite of the fact that he was financially interested in street railways, steel plants and other industries, a staunch advocate of municipal ownership. He served as mayor of Cleveland for 4 successive terms (from 1901 to 1909) and was later elected to Congress. Single Taxers were much pleased by his strategy in getting an entire book—Henry George'sProgress and Poverty—printed in the Congressional Record.

Johnson and his followers demanded a 3-cent fare on the street railways and in 1906 it was actually put into effect. The private owners were compelled in 1908 to lease their property to a municipal holding company, but in 1910 (after Johnson's defeat for re-election in the preceding year), the street railway system was leased to a new corporation, therate of fare under the new arrangement to be based on an adequate return to the investors.

Cleveland was the home of Mark Hanna who became famous in national Republican politics.

Marcus A. Hanna was born in Lisbon, Ohio, in 1837, removed with his father in 1852 to Cleveland, where he graduated from Western Reserve University, and in 1867 entered into partnership with his father-in-law (Daniel P. Rhodes) in the coal and iron business. Under Hanna's guidance the business prospered enormously, but it was not till somewhat late in life that he became prominent in Republican affairs in Cleveland. As chairman of the National Republican Committee in 1896 he managed with great skill the campaign against Bryan and free silver, and came to be acknowledged as a leader of great adroitness, tact, and resource. He entered the U.S. Senate from Ohio in 1898, and was one of the principal advisers of the McKinley administration. He took a vital interest in problems affecting labor and capital and was one of the organizers in 1901 and first president of the National Civic Federation. He died in 1904 at Washington.

The Cleveland Chamber of Commerce has done much in the betterment of local politics. It was also instrumental in 1902 in securing the adoption of the "Group Plan" by which some of the principal public buildings are arranged in a quadrangle on the bluff overlooking Lake Erie. Cleveland appropriated $25,000,000 to promote the plan. On one side of the quadrangle (nearest the lake) are the courthouse and city hall; on the opposite side and 2,000 ft. south are the post office and library ($2,500,000). There is to be a Mall 600 ft. wide, with public buildings on either side, connecting the court-house and city hall with the post office and library. The granite buildings forming this quadrangle were designed under the supervision of Arnold Brunner, John M. Carrere and D.H. Burnham.

In education the city has made an innovation known as the "Cleveland plan" which seeks to minimize school routine, red tape and frequent examinations. Great stress is put on domestic and manual training courses, and promotion in the grammar schools is made dependent on the general knowledge and development of the pupil as estimated by a teacher who is supposed to make a careful study of the individual. There are in Cleveland 120 public schools and 44 public libraries. The principal institutions of higher education are the Western Reserve University with 2,800 students, St. Ignatius College (Roman Catholic), and the Case School of Applied Science.

With its 12 M. of shore line on Lake Erie, a fine park system (1,500 acres), and wide residential streets, well shadedby maples and elms, Cleveland possesses many aspects of unusual beauty. The city is situated on bluffs rising from 74 to 200 ft. above the water and commands pleasant views of Lake Erie, while the surface of the plateau upon which the town is built is deeply cut by the Cuyahoga River, which here pursues a meandering course through a valley half a mile wide. Other streams, notably Dean Brook on the east border, add to the picturesque character of the municipal setting. A chain of parks* connected by driveways follows the valley of the Dean Brook, at the mouth of which, on the lake front, is the beautiful Gordon Park, formerly the private estate of William J. Gordon, but given by him to the city in 1893; from this extends up the Dean Valley the large Rockefeller Park, given to the city in 1896 by John D. Rockefeller and others. It adjoins Wade Park, where are a zoological garden and a lake.

L The First Automobile (1798)C The First Automobile (1798)R The First Automobile (1798)The First Automobile (1798)"By means of wheels," says the Third Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1798), from which this illustration was taken, "some people have contrived carriages to go without horses. One of these [the vehicle to the left] is moved by the footman behind it; and the forewheels, which act as a rudder, are guided by the person who sits in the carriage. Between the hind-wheels is placed a box, in which is concealed the machinery that moves the carriage. A machine of this kind will afford a salutary recreation in a garden or park, or on any plain ground; but in a rough or deep road must be attended with more pain than pleasure.... Another contrivance for being carried without draught, is by means of a sailing chariot or boat fixed on four wheels, as A/B [the figure to the right], which is driven before the wind by the sails C/D and guided by the rudder E. Its velocity with a strong wind is said to be so great that it would carry eight or ten persons from Scheveling to Putten, which is 42 English miles distant, in two hours." The figure in the centre represents a modified sailing vehicle designed to sail against the wind as well as with it.

L The First Automobile (1798)

C The First Automobile (1798)

R The First Automobile (1798)

The First Automobile (1798)

"By means of wheels," says the Third Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1798), from which this illustration was taken, "some people have contrived carriages to go without horses. One of these [the vehicle to the left] is moved by the footman behind it; and the forewheels, which act as a rudder, are guided by the person who sits in the carriage. Between the hind-wheels is placed a box, in which is concealed the machinery that moves the carriage. A machine of this kind will afford a salutary recreation in a garden or park, or on any plain ground; but in a rough or deep road must be attended with more pain than pleasure.... Another contrivance for being carried without draught, is by means of a sailing chariot or boat fixed on four wheels, as A/B [the figure to the right], which is driven before the wind by the sails C/D and guided by the rudder E. Its velocity with a strong wind is said to be so great that it would carry eight or ten persons from Scheveling to Putten, which is 42 English miles distant, in two hours." The figure in the centre represents a modified sailing vehicle designed to sail against the wind as well as with it.

Of the several cemeteries in Cleveland, Lake View (300 acres), on an elevated site on the east border of the city isthe most noteworthy; here are buried President Garfield (the Garfield memorial is a sandstone tower 165 ft. high with a chapel and crypt at its base), Mark Hanna and John Hay.

John Hay (1838-1905) was a native of Salem, Ind., and a graduate of Brown University. He studied law in the office of Abraham Lincoln, and, after being admitted to the bar at Springfield, Ill., became one of Lincoln's private secretaries, serving until the president's death. He then acted as secretary to various U.S. Legations abroad—Paris, Vienna, Madrid—and on returning to America became assistant secretary of State under W. M. Evarts. President McKinley appointed him ambassador to Great Britain in 1897, and the following year Secretary of State. Hay was prominent in many important international negotiations, such as the treaty with Spain (1898), the "open door" in China, and the Russo-Japanese peace settlement. He negotiated the Hay-Pauncefote treaty concerning the Panama Canal; also settled difficulties with Germany over the Samoan question and with Great Britain over the Alaskan boundary. As an author, Hay is best known for hisPike County Ballads, in whichLittle Breechesfirst appeared, and for the monumental life of Lincoln written by Nicolay and himself.

Other notable monuments in Cleveland are a statue of Senator Hanna by Saint Gaudens (in University Circle), a marble statue of Commodore Perry in commemoration of the battle of Lake Erie (in Wade Park), a soldiers' and sailors' monument—a granite shaft rising from a memorial room to a height of 125 ft. (in the Public Square), and a bronze statue of Moses Cleaveland, the founder of the city (likewise in the Public Square). This latter monument is said to stand on the very spot selected by Cleaveland for the centre of his new settlement.

The Public Square, or Monumental Park, is in the business centre of the city, about ½ M. from the lake and the same distance east of the Cuyahoga River. From this park the principal thoroughfares radiate. Euclid Ave., once famous for its private residences, but now the chief retail street of the city, begins at the southeast corner of the square. Cleveland's newest residence district is on the heights in the eastern part of the city.

Cleveland sometimes has been called the "Sheffield of America." Its prosperity is founded chiefly on its accessibility to oil, coal and iron. It is the largest ore market in the world. Forty million tons of iron ore valued at $125,000,000 are received annually in the Cleveland district, and the ore docks where much of this ore is handled, are of great interest. Cleveland also has extensive docking facilities,* said to be the finest in the country, for handling its immense trade in coal and grain. Cleveland's oil refineries, among the largestin the world, receive enormous quantities of crude oil by pipe line, rail and water.

The city has 2,500 manufacturing plants with 125,000 workers, producing annually goods worth about $375,000,000, of which $100,000,000 represents the products of its foundries and machine shops. Cleveland is the first city in America in the making of wire products and automobile parts, second in the manufacture of clothing and sewing machines and one of the leading cities in the production of complete automobiles. Shipbuilding (there are five large shipyards* here) is likewise an important industry, and Cleveland controls the larger share of the tonnage on the Great Lakes.

Back to Index Next