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Western Portion of 1825 Erie Canal map showing Niagara Escarpment (upper shaded line) and Onondaga Escarpment (lower shaded line). If you look closely you’ll see Ridge Road just north of the Niagara Escarpment. Source: Laws of the State of New York, in relation to the Erie and Champlain canals / Published by authority, under the direction of the Secretary of State (E. and E. Hosford, printers, Albany, 1825)
Over the eons, what would become the North American continent heaved and hoed. Rock strata, once flat with the earth when created, now undulated in waves. Each layer born in a different geological epoch bore their own unique properties. Some too loose and soft to sustain the onslaught of wind, water, and ice; others stubbornly sturdy, able to withstand those same powerful forces.
As the most recent period of glaciation receded into Canada and further north, the melting ice revealed the natural formations known as cuestas. These landforms represent a gentle upward slope on one side and dramatic fall – often evidenced by a face of rock on the frontslope.
This precipitous cliff is called an escarpment. Western New York contains three such Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Riding The Ridge (Road)”
Nature’s Spectacle of Fire, Water, and Yellow Stone
Embarrassed by its failure to preserve the sanctity of Western New York’s natural wonder, our nation sought to avoid repeating the debacle of Niagara Falls’ commercial free-for-all. After exploring Yellowstone’s natural beauty, Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden wrote this warning to Congress in his Geological Survey of 1871 (reprinted in Hayden’s 1880 book The Great West and in the September 1880 issue of The Naturalists’ Leisure Hour and Monthly Bulletin):
Continue Reading “Nature’s Spectacle of Fire, Water, and Yellow Stone”