Then: White Water Rapids, Lower Niagara River

Sightseeing tour operators have long wanted to bring passengers up the Niagara River by boat from Lake Ontario all the way to the Horseshoe and American Falls. The class 6 whitewater rapids in the lower river (popular with barrel-riding stunters), proved to be a huge obstacle to boaters. The current Whirlpool JetBoat tours only go as far as the whirlpool without venturing down the east section of the river to the falls.

In the 1970s, commercial whitewater rafting was attempted. Niagara River White Water Tours had two 35-foot nylon and rubber rafts to carry passengers from the U.S. Maid of the Mist landing. In July of 1972, one of the rafts flipped over. Five managed to hang onto the raft, but one person was flung into the rapids. He was rescued by the other raft, while the capsized raft drifted to the north shore of the whirlpool. In August, the company had other mishaps, with large waves knocking people overboard. They ceased operations immediately.

A different rafting company, using a 37-foot "best and safest engineered raft", was conducting trial runs in August of 1975 when tragedy struck. The raft flipped over and the 29 passengers were flung into the water. Many of the injured were rescued by helicopter, or climbed out of the gorge themselves, but 3 people died. An investigation launched by the U.S. Coast Guard determined that the life jackets were below standards, and the raft itself wasn't eligible for a license.

Now: White Water Rapids, Lower Niagara River

In 2015, the City of Niagara Falls council applied to Transport Canada to have that section of the river rated as "vessels are prohibited".

Niagara Falls Public Library. 2017. Niagara Falls - Then & Now: A Photographic Journey Through The Years. White Water Rapids, Lower Niagara River

Niagara Falls Then and Now
A collaborative project
Niagara Falls Museums - Niagara Falls Public Library - Dept. of Geography and Tourism Studies,Brock University.
Original newspaper series by Sherman Zavitz, Official Historian for the City of Niagara Falls from 1994 - 2019.

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