Nuggets of Niagara County History

Book excerpt: There is more to Niagara County, New York, than challenging the awesome power of Niagara Falls in a barrel. Nuggets of Niagara County History, in fulfilling this realization, is a history book about the county and its formation from the powerful Iroquois Nation to the movers and shakers who made fortunes in developing a wilderness. This is not a dry history book full of dates and uninspiring events, but it emphasizes the unusual and the people who have made that history. Niagara County is inextricably entwined with such famous names of History as the Seneca Chiefs Corn Planter and Red Jacket, the Joncaires, explorer LaSalle and his faithful companion Father Hennepin the first Caucasian to write of the falls. There are tales of War of 1812 heroes, who fought the little known war across the Niagara River into adjacent Canada. Civil War heroes, too, came from Niagara County and even old Abe Lincoln received a perceived "bomb threat" from the County Seat of Lockport. There is the sad story of the greedy men who "swindled" the Iroquois out of most of their New York State land. These precious nuggets of history hold something intriguing for readers from throughout the land.