Heinrich Schliemann
Did you know that the supposed site of the Trojan War and the City of Niagara Falls have something in common? They were both visited and highly admired by Heinrich Schliemann, a famous 19th century amateur archaeologist.
Edmund Bloedow’s article “Heinrich Schliemann in Canada” shares information from Schliemann’s own diary to discuss his experience in Canada and relate those experiences to his touristic and archaeological endeavours elsewhere after this trip. Schliemann arrived in Niagara Falls, New York, just before midnight on October 30, 1865.
When Schliemann first visited Barnett’s museum -- which, according to Schliemann, was directly across from the American Falls (near where Table Rock is now) – he first notes how great a place it is from which to view the Falls. Schliemann was the eighth person to sign Barnett’s guest book on October 31, showing up early compared to the 50 total people who signed in that day.
After spending some time admiring the Falls from above, he was taken down to view them from below using Barnett’s staircase. Afterwards, Schliemann writes that he “stood for an hour lost in admiration looking at the wonder falls, whose spray rises in white clouds thousands of feet high”. Schliemann enjoyed the Falls so much that, before leaving Niagara Falls for Toronto, he went back the next day “where I enjoyed for one hour more the beautiful sight of both falls”.
Like many archaeologists of the time, Schliemann had no formal archaeological training. While it is believed that he successfully excavated the area where the city of Troy was located (known as Hissarlik and found in the north-west corner of Turkey), he destroyed part of the site during excavation and incorrectly attributed the treasures he found to the time of the Trojan War and smuggled the treasures he discovered out of Turkey and into Greece.
This wasn’t uncommon at the time – Thomas Barnett’s Niagara Falls Museum was home to a large number of treasures smuggled out of other countries, including a few Egyptian mummies purchased by his son, Sydney, under questionable circumstances.
Being fascinated with ancient history and antiquities, Schliemann was drawn to the various Egyptian mummies Barnett had collected and exhibited in his museum. There was one in particular that he writes about: “the mummy of an ancient Egyptian warrior splendidly preserved, with long hair and beard, in fact the best I ever saw.” Barnett had given names and descriptions to all of these mummies, however much of this information is now known to be incorrect. It’s possible Barnett and his son were given incorrect information when purchasing them, but it’s just as possible that Barnett himself had fabricated some of these descriptions in order to add some extra flare. It’s interesting to think that Schliemann was drawn to these problematic exhibits just a few years before doing his own archaeological work and misidentifying his own archaeological sites and treasures.
It's very interesting to see how impressed someone like Schliemann, with his refined tastes and immense travel experience, found Niagara Falls and Barnett’s museum. Living here, it’s easy to forget the majesty of the Falls. But when someone who has travelled all over the world stops to enjoy Niagara Falls for over an hour while “lost in admiration,” you start to remember how amazing this place is and why it’s such a huge draw for people all over the world. While Barnett’s museum is no longer a Niagara Falls attraction, Schliemann’s diary, along with the guest books the Museum currently houses and transcribes, can help us to see how fantastic this place was, as well.