On the 4th of February, 1912, at the Niagara Falls on the border between
America and Canada three innocent people were swept to their deaths in the raging waters.
The three were tourists who had been enjoying the then perfectly ordinary practice of walking
across the base of the falls on a bridge of ice that's sometimes formed there in winter.
The Niagara Falls is actually a set of three waterfalls,
the largest of which (known as Horseshoe Falls) straddles the border between Canada and America.
The site has been earmarked for preservation by both countries since the late 1800s,
and constant efforts have been made ever since to preserve the condition of the area.
Thousands of people visit each year to witness the natural beauty and incredible power of the
falls themselves. Horseshoe Falls alone is the most powerful waterfall in North America,
and when the flow of all the falls at Niagara is combined an impressive 170,000 cubic meters (or
six million cubic feet) of water passes through the falls each minute of the day.
Every winter huge quantities of ice snow and slush are also washed over the falls. Sometimes
this mass of frozen material flows on down the river, but sometimes ice flows crash together
and freeze in place forming a solid ice bridge from one shore to another at the base of the
falls. 1912 was one such year, and it was an exciting event. Enterprising businessmen were
quick to erect shacks and shanties on the ice, offering visitors brave enough to step
out onto the frozen falls the opportunity to buy refreshments, have their photograph taken,
ride horses on the ice or even stay for the night on the falls themselves.
People came in droves. While there wasn't quite the same infrastructure there is today
back in 1912, there were provisions for tourists. You could ride out to the falls
in horse-drawn carriages or by train, and once you were there you'd find a mechanical elevator
ready to carry you from the upper reaches to the lower. The frozen falls were no doubt an
entrancing and perhaps intimidating sight, but if you were bold enough to stroll out onto the ice
you could enjoy the kind of wondrous views you'd never get in summer. People would visit the falls
with their lovers, send home postcards, and play on the ice. There are even pictures of
people sledding on the huge mounds of ice and snow which form at the falls.
Many of those playing on the ice bridge would have been reassured by its sheer scale and solidity. In
1912 the ice was 2.5 meters (or 8 feet) thick in places, and was firmly anchored to both shores,
providing a swath of snowy ground almost a mile wide on which to roam. There seemed no reason to
fear its integrity... and yet at around noon on the 4th of August, with barely a groan by way of
warning, the bridge gave way, dissolving in mere minutes into dozens of moving ice floes. There
were 35 people out on the bridge at the time, many of whom were able to scramble to safety.
Four were left behind. Among these four were Ignatius Roth and Burrell Hecock, who were having
a snowball fight when the slide began. The two friends sprinted for the nearby Canadian shore,
but found themselves cut off by a short stretch of icy water. Roth didn't hesitate: he jumped in
and waded across to where several onlookers were waiting to haul him out and warm him up. Hecock
was about to follow, but before he could jump he heard a cry for help coming from behind him.
He hesitated a moment and then turned back, giving up his chance of escape.
The cry had come from Mr Eldridge Stanton. His wife, Clara Stanton, had collapsed from exhaustion
as the pair sprinted towards the Canadian shore, and he was unable to carry her himself.
Seeing this, Hecock ran back towards the pair and helped pick up Mrs Stanton. Together
the three turned again towards the Canadian shore, but it was now too late. The ribbon of water which
separated them from safety had become a stream. They were trapped on a moving ice floe in the
middle of a raging torrent of water. It was a slow but not peaceful ride. For at least an hour the
floe rocked and pitched as it moved downstream, and at one stage broke into two giant pieces.
One piece grounded itself on the American shore, but in a stroke of bad luck all three of the
stranded tourists were on the other piece of ice, which continued to surge downstream. A little
later it broke apart again, this time dividing the three - Hecock on one floe and the Stantons on
another. Witnesses report that they waved goodbye to one another as the river bore them apart.
Further down the watercourse several more permanent bridges spanned the Niagara River.
The trapped tourists passed below one bridge before a rescue effort could be mounted,
but by the time they reached the next bridge firemen, police officers,
and railway workers had assembled there with ropes at the ready. Hecock was first to grab a line.
With his weight, however, the rope stretched enough to dip him into the freezing water,
where he was battered by several moving blocks of ice.
Nonetheless he managed to hang on as the rope was drawn up towards the bridge.
The watching crowd cheered, anticipating at least one rescue. Burrell Hecock, however, was
exhausted. His grip failed, causing him to slip down the rope. Despite a desperate effort, even
trying to grip the rope with his teeth for more purchase, he couldn't hold on, and fell before he
could be hauled up to the bridge. He disappeared into the rapids and was never seen again.
This left only the Stantons, whose ice floe was soon to be swept into the rapids too.
As they passed under the first bridge, Mr Stanton seized a dangling rope
and tried to tie it around his wife's waist, only for the rope to break when it pulled taut.
At the next and final bridge he grabbed a second line and again began tying it around his wife,
before suddenly giving it up as futile. The Stantons knelt down on the ice, kissed, and held
one another as they entered the rapids. They were very quickly swallowed up by the mist and foam.
It is safe to assume that Hecock and the Stantons did not survive their respective plunges into the
Niagara River, although their bodies were never found. Hecock was remembered as a hero for his
willingness to turn back and help someone in need even when it meant risking his own life.
And, as for the Stantons who went so calmly to their deaths,
they had been married for six years and had visited the Niagara Falls once in summer
and once in winter for each of them. They died together and in a place they clearly loved.
For several weeks a watch was kept on the river and its many whirlpools,
in the hope that bodies might be recovered. They never were.
The ice bridge disaster marked the last time that people were allowed or encouraged to cross
the Niagara River at the base of the falls when it froze in winter. Ice bridges still sometimes
form across the river, although they are rarely as thick or solid as they were 100 years ago.
Nowadays the tourist amenities at the falls are rather different.
You can enjoy everything from a river cruise to zip lining to a ride on the niagara skywheel or
a swim in an indoor water park. In addition to all these things, visitors will find at least one
lingering trace of the ice bridge disaster: on an observation deck on the Canadian side of the falls
there is a small memorial to the events of the 4th of February, 1912. A plaque set into the wall
reads as follows: "To the memory of Burrell Hecock of Cleveland, Ohio, aged 17 years,
who lost his life in an heroic attempt to rescue Mr and Mrs Eldridge Stanton of Toronto, Ontario,
when the ice bridge in the gorge immediately below was swept down the Niagara River
and into the whirlpool rapids, February 4th, 1912."