I went to Niagara Falls for the first time a couple weeks ago. I visited with my friend who has been there once. Niagara Falls were splendid, and my heart was beating fast when I was standing by the enclosure due to the fast flowing water. After we enjoyed seeing them, my friend told me a mysterious story, which he heard from his friends when he visited Niagara last time. According to him, a long time ago, a person who committed a crime was confined into a barrel and carried along by the current of Niagara River as a panishment. However, he could have survived even though he had fallen from the top of the falls. Nobody expected that he would be able to return again. One possible explanation was that he might have been able to escape from the barrel somehow while he was shut away. I guess his barrel could have been stopped by catching on a rock, like a river parting itself around the rock. Otherwise, someone who loves him must have rescued him by using boats and ropes, or the barrel which he was confined to might not have flowed, and a fake barrel may have been used instead. I’m still curious how he could have come out of this cruel punishment alive.
p.s. I can’t guarantee if this mystery is true.