As the weather gets colder and we get closer to February I think about a tragic event that took place on February 4th,1912 on the ice-bridge below the falls. For many years it was a popular thing for visitors to venture out on this formation of ice below the falls to frolic on the ice. Some entrepreneurs even set up shacks on the ice to sell pop,whiskey and souvenirs. However all that changed when warm weather broke up the ice-bridge and three people were carried on large chunks of ice to their deaths downriver.
Word had spread about the break-up and thousands of people arrived at the gorge on both sides of the river to watch hopelessly as the three people were swept to their demise. Valiant attempts were made to rescue these people,when ropes were lowered down to the river from the Cantilever Railway Bridge. Even though the ropes were caught, they were unable to secure the ropes and drowned when the ice flows carrying them went to pieces in the lower Whirlpool Rapids.
It is today forbidden (and strictly enforced) to venture out on the ice-bridge.The ice-bridge(it's now starting to form) is a great natural Niagara attraction but see and photograph it safely from the edges of the gorge from both sides of the river.
