For as long as Europeans have been visiting Niagara Falls, there have been attempts to make money off of it.
Hotels were already appearing in the early-19th century, and the owners wanted a way to promote their establishments.
That is when three hotel owners, William Forsyth, General Parkhurst Whitney and John Brown, came together to advertise their hotels in a grand scheme.
Their idea was to load a ship full of animals and send it over Niagara Falls.
Forsyth bought a lake schooner called The Michigan and the three men advertised that on Sept. 8, 1827 at 6 p.m., the ship would go over the falls with their unwilling animal passengers. They claimed it was a pirate ship that had been captured, but it was just a merchant ship.
The men stated in news stories and advertisements that the animals were going to be taken from the forests and put on a ship. With the right course, they said, it could easily handle Niagara Falls. They also claimed the animals were young and muscular and could survive the fall without being hurt.
On the ship they claimed there would be panthers, wolves, bears and wild cats. In truth, the actual ship passengers were a buffalo, two small bears, two raccoons, a dog, a goose, two foxes, 15 geese and one Eagle.
On the scheduled day, the animals were put on the ship. All of the animals were caged or tied to the boat except for the two bears. Also on the deck of the boat were human dummy figures that were positioned and tied to the deck to add to the supposed realism of the event.
Around Niagara Falls, 10,000 people showed up to watch the event.
The vessel was towed to Navy Island, steered towards the falls and released. As it moved through the rapids, the hull was torn open and the two bears escaped into the nearby forest of Goat Island. It was also stated in some accounts that the bison escaped.
The rest of the animals were not so lucky.
The ship went over Niagara Falls, taking the unfortunate animals with it. Smashed into the bottom of the falls, every animal was killed except for one goose that survived.
For the three hotel owners, the scheme worked immensely. So many people showed up that the hotels and taverns in Niagara Falls ran out of alcohol.
While the event was a terrible display of cruelty to animals that would never happen today, it is generally considered to be the first tourism promotion held at Niagara Falls.