Cohoes Falls

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Cohoes Falls

Cohoes Falls in Spring - High Volume.

Cohoes Falls in Summer - Dry.

Cohoes Falls in Winter - Very Low.

The Cohoes Falls is a waterfall on the Mohawk River in Cohoes, New York. Discovered by the indigenous Mohawk tribe, the falls' original name was Ga-ha-oose, which is believed to mean "The Place of the Falling Canoe." Cohoes historian Arthur Masten also wrote in his 1880 history that the phrase might mean "Potholes in the River," referring to the potholes which appear in the riverbed when it is dry. In the oral tradition of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois), the Cohoes Falls are the site where The Great Peacemaker, also known as Deganawida, performed his feat of strength, convincing the Mohawk people to become the founders of the Iroquois League of Nations. Some historians believe the Mohawks launched the Confederacy as early as 1142, though other experts report dates ranging from 1450-1650.

Celebrated by 18th century travelers in letters and journals, The Cohoes Falls, also called The Great Falls of the Mohawk, were regarded as the second most beautiful cataract in New York State after Niagara. In 1804, the national poet of Ireland, Thomas Moore, visited Cohoes and wrote a paean to the waterfall's beauty: "Lines Written at the Cohos (sic), or Falls of the Mohawk River." In 1831, however, town leaders built a dam across the Mohawk and harnessed the falls to fuel the turbines of the city's burgeoning textile industry. Over the next several decades, the predominant company, Harmony Mills, became the largest manufacturer of cotton in the United States, thanks to its control of local water rights. When all the mills closed in the wake of the great depression, city leaders ignored the potential of the falls for tourism and leased the flow rights to a series of power companies including Niagara Mohawk and Orion Power.

The Erie Canal Story here is all about overcoming the navigational barrier of the Cohoes Falls. The original "Clinton's Ditch" Erie Canal of 1825 went through the city of Cohoes. The later Enlarged Canal was realigned, yet still went through the City of Cohoes. The Barge Canal which opened in 1918 bypasses Cohoes and runs though the Village of Waterford via the impressive Waterford Flight of Locks.

The Cohoes Falls are 75 feet (23 meters) high and 1,000 feet (305 meters) wide. Their flow is most impressive in springtime, sometimes running at 90,000 cubic feet of water per second, but as the season changes there is less water for the falls because so much of the flow is diverted at the Crescent Dam to the Barge Canal through Lock 6. Most of the water is still diverted for power generation; some is diverted for the Cohoes water supply. During the summer, the falls are virtually dry, revealing shale rock formations that have their own distinctive beauty.

Two power companies, Brookfield Power of Canada and Green Island Power Authority of Green Island, New York, are now grappling for control of the falls. New York State Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, along with officials from civic and preservation groups, are lobbying the federal government to consider GIPA's plan to restore this natural wonder. GIPA plans to provide a continuous flow of water over the falls and ecologically sound conditions for plant and fish life in the Mohawk River. Brookfield has also announced strategies for improving the flow of water, and the Brookfield plan is backed by the current mayor of Cohoes and other local officials. The area's largest newspaper, The Albany Times Union, has written an editorial in support of GIPA. Brookfield currently holds the license for the School Street Station that regulates the falls.

[edit] Trivia

Around the turn of the century, daredevil Bobby Leach went over the Cohoes Falls in a steel barrel, practicing for his future stunt at Niagara.

Author James Fenimore Cooper referred to the Cohoes Falls as The Cahoos in his novels.

Some Cohoes residents have reported that they have seen the ghost of an Indian maiden paddling her canoe near the falls on moonlit nights. This is probably an urban legend. Many theatergoers, however, have seen a ghost in the Cohoes Music Hall.

American art song composer, Lori Laitman, has set Thomas Moore's 1804 Cohoes poem to music. An article about the song appeared in the November 2006 issue of Classical Singer Magazine.