 Nevertheless , Hutchinson was not the first to see First Falls . The first known recorded sighting of the waterfall by a colonial was that of John William Adams , an <unk> of HMS Buffalo in early January 1837 , who named it " Adams ' Waterfall " . He was traveling with his wife , Susanna and a party consisting of Nicholson 's and <unk> 's who had the use of a <unk> to go into the hills . Adams states " we were opposite the spot where the Eagle on the Hill now is , and the question was put , who would volunteer to go down the hillside to try for water " . 
