Preface

• Author: Craig Forcese
• Pages: 17-21

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Preface

Looking southeast FroM the escarpment above the famous

Niagara Horseshoe Falls, Navy Island appears as a f‌lat, for-

ested feature, dividing the western channel of the river as

it sweeps on either side of Grand Island, New York. To a casual eye,

there is nothing remarkable about Navy Island — no one lives on it,

and Parks Canada has closed the small, erosion-prone landmass to

visitors for ecological reasons. Where it passes by the island, the river

is a bright, aqua-blue ribbon, but ordinary when contrasted with the

magnif‌icent cataracts just downstream.

Probably for this reason, most visitors seem to venture no far-

ther upriver than the overf‌low parking area west of the international

control dam. As I visit on a sunny day in late June 2017 — f‌irst on an

early morning run, and later with my patient family by car — the

Niagara Parkway has virtually no trac past the old power station.

There are even fewer tourists on the Niagara Parkway upriver from

the little town of Chippawa. And we are alone in stopping in the pull-

over area near Service Road 30 to view the fast-moving river and to

peer at Navy Island, only a few hundred metres away.

Those who do pause here may simply sit on the viewing bench to

enjoy the scenery. Others may also decide to visit the historical marker,