BOTANICAL EVALUATION OF THE GOAT ISLAND COMPLEX, NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK
P. M. Eckel
Buffalo Museum of Science
1020 Humboldt Pkwy
Buffalo, NY 14211 U.S.A.
www.buffalomuseumofscience.org

Return to Table of Contents

3. Crest Vegetation
The crest refers to the brink of the gorge on the western extremity of Goat Island, also known as the high bank. The brink or crest is composed of the deepest sedimentary deposits on the island, or anywhere else within the Goat Island complex. At the island's north- and south-western corners occur approximately forty-foot bluffs of sediment which overlook the upper riverbed. The bluff on the north, overlooking Luna Island, is called Stedman's Bluff, that on the south, overlooking the Horseshoe Falls and Terrapin Point is Porter's Bluff.

In Olmsted and Vaux's 1887 plan, Stedman's Bluff was to support a stair with a series of viewing platforms for those descending to Luna Island. Those leaving that island, sated with the view, could mount the bluff on a different set of stairs.

The view from Porter's Bluff was the most spectacular. Around fifty yards of vegetation had been removed to enhance the prospect "beyond which point considerable bodies of foliage interpose that cannot be removed without detriment to the scenery." The stairs leading down to the Terrapin Rocks were to be removed and an inclined path made in a small gully, or ravine, already existing in the bank.

This area receives the brunt of the prevailing winds, for the most part, and may or may not receive benefit from the spray of the cataracts. Portions of it may experience desiccation stress as do other sections of the seven-mile crestline all along the gorge of the Niagara River from Goat Island to Lewiston, New York.

Slumping and landslides attest to the instability of the soil banks here, such as the one reported in 1907 at the Biddle Stairs. To remedy this "sliding holes were drilled in the solid ledge rock and heavy iron pins placed in them with the upper ends projecting five or six feet. Back of these pins heavy cedar and oak logs were placed and the excavation filled with brush and soil" (24 Ann Rep Comm, 1908). Olmsted and Vaux (1887) refer to this condition when they object to replacement of the Biddle Stair on the west face of Goat Island because "as the face of the cliff recedes a readjustment of the affair would soon be necessary," further that "twenty years ago the carriage way between Stedman's Bluff and Porter's Bluff ran upon ground much of which has since been undermined and fallen."

Early realistic drawings such as that of Niagara Falls painted by Frederic Church in 1856 (Niagara Falls, Fig. 59 in Adamson, 1985) show extensive areas of crestline totally devoid of vegetation in the midst of relatively dense woods, a condition due to collapse on the western margin of the sediment bank. Evidence of such catastrophic conditions are not apparent today.

White Pine (Pinus strobus) may be a likely candidate for the conifer in early depictions of Goat Island on the high bank or upper crest of Goat Island, on analogy with records of such pines at "Whirlpool Woods" reported by George Clinton in his diary (see sections included). Whirlpool Woods constituted the crest vegetation near what is now Whirlpool State Park. This area also has a deep layer of fluviatile sediments at the crest, as does Goat Island. The original Whirlpool Woods was cleared after that area became a State Park, but before that there was much there of a rare botanical character. The presence of a population of White Pine is inferred from the occurrence of a rather robust station of Pine-drops (Pterospora andromedea) at this locality (see Clinton's diary) in the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Unless conditions such as aspect were unfavorable, a component of Red Cedar probably existed because elsewhere in western New York this small tree enjoys the crests of gorges and ravines (Zenkert, 1934).

A conifer border was depicted in early pictures of the crestline, starting with Hennepin's illustrations, although to some extent these were caricatures of reality based on Hennepin's verbal description. Subsequent paintings by certain leading landscape artists, however, also emphasize a dark evergreen border, especially on the islands in the American channel (see section on the pictorial tradition).

As recently as seven hundred years ago, the subtending bedrock of Goat Island extended continuously across to the Ontario shore, much as it does today in the land above the falls, and the level of water in the river reached up to at least the base of the sedimentary bluff, or high bank, on Goat Island's west end. This was at a time when the the cataracts were just north of Goat Island, presenting one continuous crestline (Otis, 1982). The aboriginal Goat Island crest forest of around two hundred years ago during ownership by the Porters, then, had its origin as a shoreline, not a crestline, as would be the case for the early crest forests all along the present seven mile length of the Niagara Gorge. Two shorelines were created as the gorge extended southward - one along the shore of the Niagara River above the falls, later to become abandoned as a crestline, the other being created at the base of the gorge and extending south with the lengthening of the gorge. Pictorial evidence, geological relationships and aspects of the present gorge flora suggest that these borders were dominated by conifers, at least in basal shelving areas such as at the Whirlpool - frequently depicted on the Canadian shore.

As has been stated elsewhere in this manuscript, the crest areas were among the first forests to be cleared along the gorge rim, due to their usefullness as prospect areas. By the time cameras came into common use, the crestline woods had probably been completely altered, favoring domination by deciduous trees with scattered evergreens.

No evergreens exist in the present crest woods, although an occasional Arbor Vitae (Thuja occidentalis) might be found at the precipice, growing out of the bedrock. Presently, infestations of alien taxa occur with a rather strong, if young, growth of native species. The weeds are concentrated by the asphalted path, with native woodland species tending toward the brink. Serious weeds are primarily introduced shrubs: Tartarian Honeysuckle, Privet, Wayfaring Tree, Buckthorn, Rugose Rose with mixture of pathside weedy herbs. With judicious removal of the weed shrubs, the native vegetation which is clinging to the far brink of the precipice would recolonize and naturally restore the crest forest to a community of native species.

A beautiful autumn sight must have been the population of Climbing Bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) growing "as though this were their chosen home of all the earth ... the largest Bittersweet clusters hang far over the western bank, growing in very indifferent soil ..." (Chamberlin, 1892). Although absent from the present crestline, this plant grows on the talus at the base of the island and elsewhere along the crest of the Niagara River gorge. It apparently was once much more abundant there, but were cut out by people selling bunches of this brilliant and aromatic vine to tourists (personal communication from a person met while botanizing).

Apparently, after the original trees were removed, Black Locust (Robinia pseudacacia) trees were substituted. Any of the native trees present today could be made to replace them, but it is likely that Yellow Oak (Quercus prinoides var. acuminata) was the original crest Oak. The Black Locusts are very large and tree ring data would help date the event of the removal of the original trees and planting of these substitutes.

On June 26, 1862, George Clinton collected "on top of the bank" Lyre-leaved Rock Cress (Arabis lyrata) after climbing up the Biddle Stairs -so presumably he meant the "high bank" or western boundary of Goat Island. He also found there the Fringed Houstonia (Houstonia canadensis) and native Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) typical of the wooded crest vegetation all along the Niagara Gorge on both sides of the River, and characteristic of dry woods facing the wind.

The plants of the crest are important because they shed their seeds on the naturally vegetated slopes below. Care should be taken that plants which become noxious are not introduced at the crestline. This is true for parklands all along the seven mile crest of the Niagara River Gorge.

Presently there are "ongoing periodic scaling of the gorge walls above major viewing areas, such as the Cave-of-the-Winds" (The Promontory Partnership, 1981) in order to stabilize the rock face as "this action greatly reduces the potential of small rock slides" from above onto areas below. It is recommended that a policy be developed to accomplish this to reduce impact on the crest vegetation and to allow regeneration on areas denuded for the sake of ease of access by workers, such as exists on Stedman's Bluff. There is a danger that maintenance policy has been established to maintain Stedman's bluff as a lawn. Presently it is in that condition. It may be that native vegetation will not be allowed to reestablish itself, and this area, as well as many other areas on Goat Island, will be lost.

Regrowth, when permitted, may be designed to screen the area when the crest is trimmed or reinforced. One suggestion is that River Grape (Vitis riparia) be reestablished here: "in few other places does the Wild Grape climb so high or spread so far or swell itself into such tree-like proportions. Nowhere, especially on the American side and in the vicinity of Luna Island, is the visitor out of sight of these rampant vines. The slope leading down to Luna Island is covered with small trees so overgrown by vines that one wonders how the trees can grow at all, yet they appear to thrive under the load" (Chamberlin, 1892). Chamberlin also writes of how successful the Bittersweet vines were (see above). The conspicuous presence of vines was noted by many people, such as Robinson (1875) quoted by Olmsted in Gardner (1880) where the islands were "undisturbed in their peaceful shadiness, garlanded with wild vine and wild flowers ...."

A likely candidate for the occurrence of a great thicket of Burning Bush, or Wahoo (Euonymus atropurpureus), is here, due to Chamberlin's exclamations over the extraordinary growth of shrubs and vines in the areas subjected to spray and mist - even weedy shrubs such as the Barberry (presumably Berberis sp.). Gardner also referred to this abundance when he referrs to the "rich overhanging foliage of the high banks of Goat Island" (Gardner, 1880). The "thicket" mentioned frequently by Superintendent Welch, from which he extracted hundreds of native shrubs may very well have come from exotic groves on the west end in response to moisture. Indirect evidence for this is the curious shrub layer drawn by Cockburn (1833) in a painting done of this area, discussed in the section on pictorial tradition.

Note: the grapes and small trees noted by Chamberlin should not be taken as the climax or aboriginal community by the time of European settlement -which historically was a conifer forest. The primitive trees had probably been removed here by Chamberlin's time, and sections of the crest slope had collapsed into the gorge. The grapes and small trees re ported were successional - much like the sumach on the east end of the island in 1885. Such succession today can be seen in a small community on the slopes on the island's south side by the Horseshoe Falls. Grape vines actually may have been critical in the ability of the forest to regenerate in areas subject to high moisture, ice-load and wind on the island's western margins - another reason why the present maintenance policy of removing them from the trees may be destroying the island forest. Deep thickets, as just discussed and suggested in the remarks made by Chamberlin (1892) may, however, have been the aboriginal condition.

Further investigation of conditions in certain sections of the Reservation subject to spray zone moisture and prevailing wind might wish to consider the biological response of species interacting with elevated moisture regimes in the spray zones. "Cold is more penetrating when the air is moist, and high temperatures are more noticeable when relative humidity is high" (Smith, 1966). Certain aspects of "krummholtz" or elfinforest communities of some tundra (Janic, et al., 1974) and alpine vegetation (Raven and Curtis, 1970) may yield practical insight into conditions at the crestline at Terrapin and Prospect Points and the bluff on Goat island overlooking Luna Island. "Where strong winds come in from a constant direction, the trees are sheared until the tops resemble close-cropped heads, although the trees on the lee side of the clumps grow taller than those on the windward side. While the wind and cold generally are regarded as the cause of the dwarf and misshapen condition of the trees, Clausen (1965) has demonstrated that the ability of some trees to show a 'krumholtz' effect is genetically determined" (Smith, 1966).

When terminal branch shoots are lost by desiccation and ice, strong lateral shoots develop, contributing to thicket formation in trees and shrubs ordinarily tall and loosely branched. Olmsted himself referred to a process like it: "something of the beauty of the hanging foliage below the falls is also probably due to the fact, that the effect of the frozen spray upon it is equivalent to the horticultural process of 'shortening in'; compelling a denser and closer growth than is, under other circumstances, natural" (Gardner, 1880).

Trees, often depicted in early photographs, and some of which may be seen on the Ontario side near the Horseshoe Falls, may become "flagged" by the destruction of their twig-forming buds on the side facing into the prevailing wind and killing frost (Smith, 1966). Such effects on natural vegetation are beautiful to see and are signatures of the power of the Niagara River and its cataracts.

One species of native Rose occurs here which is rare in western New York State (Rosa virginiana).