Niagara By Louis Hennepin: Primary Source Analysis

Primary Source Analysis

In Louis Hennepin’s “A Description of the Fall of the River Niagara, that is to be seen betwixt the Lake Ontario and that of Erie,” and his “The Author sets out from Fort Frontenac, and passes over the rapid Stream, which is call'd The Long Fall. He is kindly receiv'd at Montreal by Count Frontenac,” Hennepin offers the reader a late 17th-century description of the Niagara River and Falls, as well as the river systems leading to Montreal. Similarly, in “A Letter from Mr. Kalm,” Peter Kalm also offers a description of the Niagara Falls region. Though written approximately 60 years apart and from different perspectives, both authors offer the contemporary reader a glimpse into the relationship between European explorer and North American wilderness. Beyond the fear, awe, that the Hennepin text emulates, the Kalm text also demonstrates an early modern

approach to nature.
Born in the Spanish Netherlands in 1626, Father Louis Hennepin was a member of the Franciscan Catholic religious order who participated in surveying expeditions in western New France.In his description of Niagara Falls, Hennepin describes his journey from Quebec city aboard “Le Griffon” to the Niagara river in 1679.

At the falls, Hennepin is credited being the first European to visit and describe the cascade which he notes at 600 ft. In addition to the falls, Hennepin notes the groups of First Nations and Europeans trading. Among the goods that were traded were furs, firearms, and alcohol.
In the second text, Hennepin describes his journey aboard birchbark canoe through the St. Lawrence River from the Kingston area to Montreal. While the journey is more challenging than planned for, Hennepin and the voyageurs discover a new waterway to Montreal. In spite of the monopoly granted to certain French companies, Hennepin’s crew engage in illegal fur trapping. Upon arriving in Montreal, Hennepin is housed at Governor General Frontenac’s home where he recovers from his journey to

Montreal.
Prior to beginning an analysis into Hennepin’s two texts, it is important to note the author’s audience. Hennepin’s texts fall into the “travel literature” genre. Essentially, meant to entertain readers, it is not unusual for authors of travel literature to be dramatic and to embellish facts in their observations. As Kalm’s text will make clear, Hennepin is certainly guilty of exaggerations. Nonetheless, Hennepin’s descriptions help to shed light on the European’s connection to North American wilderness. Most notably, Hennepin’s text reflects the fear and awe Europeans held towards the wilderness. In describing Niagara Falls, Hennepin calls the fall a “horrible precipice, [from which] do foam and boil after the most hideous manner imaginable.” In addition, the noise emitted from the fall is considered “outrageous…, more terrible than [thunder].” His fearful appraisal is also not limited to the Niagara area. Regarding the waterway off the St. Lawrence that he discovers, Hennepin calls the water “dreadful” and “furious.” He continues and observes, “the waters support ten or twelve yards high, and appear like huge snow-balls, hail, and rain with dreadful thunder, and a noise like hissing and howling of fierce beasts.”
The third text was written by Peter Kalm, a Swedish-Finnish explorer who was born in 1716. A botanist, Kalm was commissioned by the Swedish monarchy in 1747, to visit the North American colonies and gather seeds to improve Sweden’s agricultural sector. Specifically, Kalm sought to acquire silk seeds to help establish a silk industry in Sweden. His travels brought him to the Great Lakes basin, including Niagara Falls. In contrast to Hennepin, Kalm is credited with writing the first scientific description of the Falls. In a 1751 letter to a friend, he noted the height, the horseshoe shape of the falls, and the nearby Goat Island. Kalm also noted the crushed animal and human remains that had either gone over the precipice or had been crushed by the weight of the cascade. Moreover, like Hennepin, Kalm also mentions the local First Nations groups who are engaging in trade with locals.
In spite of also being considered travel literature, the Kalm text is strikingly objective. Kalm is able to achieve a sense of objectivity in his source by noting the exaggerated observations made by Hennepin in the prior century. For example, Kalm writes, “Father Hennepin, you know, calls it 600 feet perpendicular…But as it is the way of some travellers to magnify everything, so has he done with regard to the fall of Niagara.” Kalm continues, and corrects Hennepin: “Since Father Hennepin's time, this fall, in all the accounts that have been given of it, has grown less and less; and those who have measur'd it with mathematical instruments find the perpendicular fall of the water to be exactly 137 feet…”
Kalm’s letter demonstrates a more modern approach to nature. Rather than be awed or fear it, Kalm attempted to tame nature by describing it objectively and quantifying it accurately when possible. In fact, his mission to North America - that is to acquire seeds for agriculture - can be seen as an attempt to harness or tame nature for human purposes.

In essence, both Louis Hennepin texts and Peter Kalm’s letter shed light into two contrasting early modern European approaches to nature. On the one hand, Louis Hennepin’s texts are written from a perspective that fears and awes nature. Instead of attempting to tame nature by quantifying, Hennepin prefers to illustrate its frightening components. Contrastingly, Peter Kalm’s approach to nature and its resources is scientific. By correcting Hennepin’s observations by noting the actual height of Niagara Falls, Kalm demonstrates the European explorer’s intention to harness nature’s resources and quantify it in terms that he can understand.