MACKENZIE, W. L., Chairman
Text continues: "To whom were referred Lord Viscount Goderich's Despatch, to His Excellency Sir John Colborne, of the 8th November, 1832. To which is added, the report from the same committee, on the petition of William Forsyth, late proprietor of the Niagara Falls Pavilion." A document detailing the problems in Upper Canada that led to the Rebellion of 1837. Note the section on William Forsyth, one of the most colourful characters in early Niagara Falls. Forsyth became known as the "King of Smuggling," using his extensive profits to become a leader in the fledgling tourist industy. In 1818, he began the first rowboat ferry service, crossing the Niagara River below the Falls. In 1820, he began a stagecoach service from Buffalo to Queenston, later expanding his service to bring visitors from Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie to stay at his Pavilion Hotel. Not making enough money that way, he bribed other stagecoach operators to deliver visitors to his hotel. Until 1836, the Pavilion Hotel was the best hotel available, with balconies which offered the very best views of the Falls. Forsyth also staged the first tourist stunt at Niagara when he nastily sent the lake schooner Michigan over the Falls with a cargo of live animals. Finally, Forsyth received his comeuppance. In an attempt to monopolize tourism to Table Rock, he enclosed a 66 foot military reserve bordering the Niagara Gorge. By doing so. he prevented anyone other than his customers from getting the best possible view. By excluding the general public from Table Rock, Forsyth put himself on a collision course with the colonial administration led by Governor Sir Peregrine Maitland. In 1832, the government ruled against Forsyth, resulting in the latter losing all his assets and moving to Fort Erie. Forced to give up his Pavilion Hotel and 400 acres of land, he sold all his property to a group of businessmen for the City of the Falls development.
