An interesting document on the Niagara River

[ExiledInIllinois]

42 minutes ago, Cripple Creek said:

 

Nice find!  The new sector gates for Chicago Harbor Lock were built in Buffalo and floated to Chicago...

[Cripple Creek]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

This has now become even funnier. Not a surprise, but certainly not a disappointment! 

 

[The Senator]

 

I was going to point out that the Mighty Niagara is not a river, it’s a strait - but Exiled beat me to it (as I would expect).

 

Does anyone remember when, in 1969, the Army Corps of Engineers “turned off” Niagara Falls?

.

[Augie]

8 minutes ago, Cripple Creek said:

 

 

Well THANK YOU! I’ve actually been searching for something to add purpose to my life. I realize I will not live forever, and at some point I will need to face my Creator and explain what I did with my life. Now I know THAT will not be it, so one thing is crossed off. It’s a start....

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 hour ago, Marv's Neighbor said:

The Niagara is a beautiful river.  Lived in the Pacific NW of 20 years, and they have a whole lot of beautiful water views too.  Now we're in Richmond VA., and the James River is one moving mud hole.  There's so much silt from the Blue Ridge area, that I'm wondering how there are still any mountains left, W of us?  People here still pay big $$ for a "water view," but a view of what?

 

The nuns told us that there never were any American Bison E of the Mississippi but that the French named our area Beau Fleuve (beautiful river)  that eventually ended up as being called Buffalo.  Now we see the Beau Fleuve Music and Arts festival, so maybe they were right?

Never trust the Nuns... LoL...

 

American bison were very much a part of WNY:

 

 

Original distribution of plains bison and wood bison in North America. Holocene bison (Bison occidentalis) is an earlier form at the origin of plains bison and wood bison.

  Holocene bison

  Wood bison

  Plains bison

 

[SORRY: Key colors didn't come through.  From, North to South.  Holocene, Wood, Plains.]

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_bison_belt

 

Sources:

 

• Danz, Harold P. Of Bison and Man. Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 1997.
• Egan, Timothy. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dustbowl. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006.
• Fagan, Brian. 2005. Ancient North America.Thames & Hudson, Ltd.: London
• Isenberg, Andrew C. The Destruction of the Bison: An Environmental History, 1750-1920. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• Knapp, Alan K., John M. Blair, John M. Briggs, Scott L. Collins, David C. Hartnett, Loretta C. Johnson, and E. Gene Towne. "The Keystone Role of Bison in North American Tallgrass Prairie." Bioscience Vol. 49, No. 1 (January 1999): 39-50.
• Larson, Floyd. "The Role of the Bison in Maintaining the Short Grass Plains." EcologyVol. 21, No. 2 (April 1940): 113-121.
• Smith, Douglas W. "Wolf-Bison Interactions in Yellowstone National Park." Journal of Mammalogy Vol. 81, No. 4 (November 2000): 1128-1135.
• West, Eliot. The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

15 minutes ago, Cripple Creek said:

 

Nice video.  But Kentucky Blue Fin, AKA: Asian Carp won't do well in the fast flowing Niagara.  They simply won't be able to spawn there. They need +60 miles of unobstructed river with adequate backwater.  Something the Niagara simply doesn't possess.

 

But... Even I can appreaciate the nice diversion, tangent you are on.

 

Still butt hurt.  There is a special place for the likes of guys like you... And your alter egos. ?

[ExiledInIllinois]

25 minutes ago, The Senator said:

 

I was going to point out that the Mighty Niagara is not a river, it’s a strait - but Exiled beat me to it (as I would expect).

 

Does anyone remember when, in 1969, the Army Corps of Engineers “turned off” Niagara Falls?

.

Only the American Falls was dewatered.  Shut off:

 

 

 

I heard rumor that we may someday do it again.  The river gets coffer dammed off.  And water goes to Horseshoe and through the dam culverts on the American and Canadian side to handle the obstructed flow @ the American Side.

 

In 1969... The talus (debris) at base of Falls was cleaned up (not totally removed) to keep the aesthetic beauty of The Falls.

Edited December 13, 2018 by ExiledInIllinois

[SomeDudeAtHome]

This is a very interesting and informative thread! Thank you to all who have contributed. I've really enjoyed the reading and will watch the videos at some point. As someone who lives in the City of Tonawanda not far from the river (I now want to call it a strait) I always love reading about the history and how things shaped the area I live in.

[The Senator]

 

Yes, I know that the Corps built coffer dams and diverted the water to the Canadian Falls.

 

Still, pretty f’ing amazing what you guys did!

.

[ExiledInIllinois]

This was the placement of the coffer dam in 1969 to "shut off" the American Falls:

 

 

Horseshoe Falls, Canadian side to the far left.  The power culverts (to divert water for power generation) are on the far right, foreground, just out of pictures.  That's where the normal dam works, ie: intakes are.  On the American side, culverts are underground under the city of Niagara Falls.  The Canadian side utilizes above ground races, culverts to their storage reservoirs.

4 minutes ago, The Senator said:

 

Yes, I know that the Corps built coffer dams and diverted the water to the Canadian Falls.

 

Still, pretty f’ing amazing what you guys did!

.

Just Mansplaining to add some information to the thread for others that may not have realized the concepts involved.

 

It is pretty amazing!!!

 

I think the member @Wacka was there as a child to see the actual dewatering.

[ExiledInIllinois]

7 minutes ago, SomeDudeAtHome said:

This is a very interesting and informative thread! Thank you to all who have contributed. I've really enjoyed the reading and will watch the videos at some point. As someone who lives in the City of Tonawanda not far from the river (I now want to call it a strait) I always love reading about the history and how things shaped the area I live in.

Still not with out scares and shame.

 

IE:  "Love Canal" was supposed to be built as an All-American Canal to handle shipping and rival the Welland Canal around the dam/spillway structure (The Falls).  From Niagara Falls to Lake Ontario.  You know what happened there!  After Love's failed venture in late 1800s, early 1900s... It became the a nightmare as we all know.

 

There was a push in the 1950s to build an All-American Canal to compete with Welland.  Studies were done then quickly dropped!  Did they know what laid in the hole at the Love site! Of course they did.  The idea for an All-American Canal would quickly die during the 1960s!

 

 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Buffalo/comments/3nw3fb/i_see_your_1960s_highway_plans_and_raise_you_the/

 

 

This was to go from the Upper River just above Tonawanda to the shores of Lake Ontario, rivaling the Welland.  Buffalo would have never been turned into "Radiator Springs" with the building of the St.Lawrence Seaway.

 

Yet... The timebomb was sitting there all the while @ the Love Canal site and wouldn't be publicly exposed for another 15+ years!!! 

 

Food for thought...

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

 

Edit:  Fun fact.  The Welland Diversion, Ie: The Welland Canal... With it's 8 locks around The Falls from Port Colborne (Lake Erie) to Port Weller (Lake Ontario)... Is another such water diversion around falls.

 

If the Welland were to close, the water elevation in Lake Erie would raise 3".  Lake Huron raise 2" and Lake Michigan raise 1" if my memory serves me correct.

 

Here is a Canadian study of diversions around the whole Great Lakes:

 

Great Lakes Diversions and Other Removals:

 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.4296/cwrj2502125

 

[Saxum]

5 hours ago, bbb said:

 

I cannot find a picture online from on top of the Peace Bridge looking out onto Lake Erie (or down the river, for that matter).  I always have to look, even if I'm driving, because it's such a great view............I have no idea why nobody seems to have taken pictures from up there. 

Or if anybody has seen pics, please post. 

 

 

I have walked across the Peace Bridge and two in Niagara Falls but no pictures unfortunately.  And my feet are not in shape anymore to make such a walk.

1 hour ago, The Senator said:

 

I was going to point out that the Mighty Niagara is not a river, it’s a strait - but Exiled beat me to it (as I would expect).

 

Does anyone remember when, in 1969, the Army Corps of Engineers “turned off” Niagara Falls?

.

 

Yes we drove down and saw it.

[bbb]

4 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

 

River to North, from Lake...

 

 

Looking SouthWest towards Lake:

 

 

3 hours ago, Cripple Creek said:

 

 

This is exactly what I'm talking about.  There are a million pictures of the Peace Bridge, and I usually have one up as my screensaver.  Since they started with the lights, it looks great at night.

 

But, hasn't anybody looked out of their windows going over the PB?  It's such an amazing view of the whole lake turning into the river.  You can see about a quarter of it's beauty in the 2nd and 3rd pictures.  Imagine the view from the middle of the PB

Now I watched the video in the third "picture" and it's like the photographer isn't allowed to show what I'm talking about.  How stupid. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

Just now, bbb said:

 

 

This is exactly what I'm talking about.  There are a million pictures of the Peace Bridge, and I usually have one up as my screensaver.  Since they started with the lights, it looks great at night.

 

But, hasn't anybody looked out of their windows going over the PB?  It's such an amazing view of the whole lake turning into the river.  You can see about a quarter of it's beauty in the 2nd and 3rd pictures.  Imagine the view from the middle of the PB

You would probably have to do a foot border crossing with camera.  Maybe get permission so as not to look suspicious.

 

Another avenue... Would be to mount the GoPro to dash, windshield.  Then grab the stills from the video.

 

My Toyota Tacoma actually came with GoPro mount up on windhield. But... Still a nice walk, with say a wide angle... 18mm, 28mm lens and DSLR would work magic!

 

I guess... You could tell them @ Customs what You plan to do.  Stand right in "No-Man's Land" in middle of bridge.  Would they allow you to set up tripod on walkway.

 

Better yet.  Just walk out on Bird Island Pier.  Set up under Peace Bridge.  I have a few nice pics from last year... But not the wide angle You are looking for... Just My Family and I under Bridge.  That may be too low a POV???

[bbb]

3 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

You would probably have to do a foot border crossing with camera.  Maybe get permission so as not to look suspicious.

 

Another avenue... Would be to mount the GoPro to dash, windshield.  Then grab the stills from the video.

 

My Toyota Tacoma actually came with GoPro mount up on windhield. But... Still a nice walk, with say a wide angle... 18mm, 28mm lens and DSLR would work magic!

 

I guess... You could tell them @ Customs what You plan to do.  Stand right in "No-Man's Land" in middle of bridge.  Would they allow you to set up tripod on walkway.

 

Better yet.  Just walk out on Bird Island Pier.  Set up under Peace Bridge.  I have a few nice pics from last year... But not the wide angle You are looking for... Just My Family and I under Bridge.  That may be too low a POV???

 

I am NOT going to do any of this.  We've got all these photographers taking a million pictures of WNY, and nobody has done this.  It's insane.

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 minute ago, bbb said:

 

I am NOT going to do any of this.  We've got all these photographers taking a million pictures of WNY, and nobody has done this.  It's insane.

I still gotta get Your picture of Rochester from the top of Chestnut Ridge Park toboggan chutes!!!

 

LoL.  I got pictures of Sears (Willis) Tower here from 40+ miles out and slightly above the tree line in a God Awful flat land.  LoL...

[bbb]

36 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

I still gotta get Your picture of Rochester from the top of Chestnut Ridge Park toboggan chutes!!!

 

 

Yes, you do.  I thought of that the other day when I saw this picture in the Buffalo News.  I said I bet you're seeing NF, Ontario

[ExiledInIllinois]

9 minutes ago, bbb said:

 

Yes, you do.  I thought of that the other day when I saw this picture in the Buffalo News.  I said I bet you're seeing NF, Ontario

Nope!  I seen NF... But its (Rochester) way over to the far right.  In your picture above, it off to far right.

 

Chestnut Ridge is quite an amazing vantage point for almost all of WNY looking north!

 

I have some photos.  I will see if I can dig them off the Cloud.  I got a new DSLR camera last year.  Next trip I am bringing it.  But I only have a 300mm lens with a 1.7x teleconverter... 

 

FWIW... Rochester is out there to the far right!!!

 

EDIT: I am gonna scour internet, have not done it in a long time looking for this (has to be crystal clear day) pic.

Edited December 13, 2018 by ExiledInIllinois

[ExiledInIllinois]

This is one of the better pics I could find.  Shows the top of the Bills Fieldhouse like you can touch it.  But... The pic isn't wide angle or panoramic enough.  What is missing is way to the east, wide right (pun intended...Ha Ha!)... Which there is not much there and awfully close to the trees on the sledding hill. Probably why it gets cut off and out!

 

I gotta get there on a clear day with my good camera!!!

 

NF is to far left of BFLo.  What I saw was super far right (east).

 

 

EDIT: I will buy You a beer if we can resolve this once and for all what I saw!!! LoL...

Edited December 13, 2018 by ExiledInIllinois

[bbb]

5 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

I gotta get there on a clear day with my good camera!!! 

 

Yes, you do.