Welcome to Henry's Travel Blog!
Although he kept detailed business papers, Missouri Botanical Garden founder Henry Shaw left little personal material for biographers to consider in analyzing his life. One of the few items which remain is a series of five journals. Following his retirement from the hardware business in 1840, Shaw traveled abroad and made notes, recollections, and even sketches in these small bound books. Join us as we chart Henry's journey to Europe and beyond.
 
Shaw's variable spellings, punctuation, and grammar, preserved throughout, are typical even for well-educated gentlemen in the 19th Century. Important note (4/14/09): The entries from March 11, 2009 through April 8, 2009, correspond to recently discovered text from Henry Shaw's journal. They will be posted online under the correct dates to preserve chronological accuracy.
 
   
   

Posted Online Sunday, March 1, 2009

July 28 and 29, 1840: Niagara River

Passed at Niagara in viewing the Falls from the American and Canadian shore - descended the cliff at Goat Island and made a showery incursion under the principal - found the noise tremendous and deafening -

In the afternoon of the 29th left the Falls and its gentile company and visited the rapids on the river below called the Whirlpool - also the deap and gloomy chasm in the rock - Devil's Hole. The River Niagara flowing as a rapid torrent thro a deep channel of rocks is a romantic sight - 7 miles from the cataract it arrives at the plain level country and assumes the breadth and depth of a grand and navigable river at Lewiston where we arrived the same evening and remained all night - the noise of the great Fall still as audible as in the immediate vicinity.

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