Documents 

When the Great Blondin announced that he was going to walk from America to Canada across the Niagara River on a rope that was more than 1,100 feet long and just 3 inches wide, hanging 160 feet above the raging river, people came from everywhere. Some came to watch him cross. Some came to watch him fall. Some thought he wouldn’t show up at all. But he did show up. And he did walk across the river. And then he did something else amazing. He crossed the river on that tightrope again and again, adding another death-defying flourish each time. Matt Tavares’s gorgeous, riveting account of the daredevil of Niagara Falls is sure to hold readers in its grip, just as Blondin's feats enthralled those spectators on the cliffs more than one hundred and fifty years ago.

The true history of a legendary American folk hero In the 1820s, a fellow named Sam Patch grew up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, working there (when he wasn't drinking) as a mill hand for one of America's new textile companies. Sam made a name for himself one day by jumping seventy feet into the tumultuous waters below Pawtucket Falls. When in 1827 he repeated the stunt in Paterson, New Jersey, another mill town, an even larger audience gathered to cheer on the daredevil they would call the "Jersey Jumper." Inevitably, he went to Niagara Falls, where in 1829 he jumped not once but twice in front of thousands who had paid for a good view. The distinguished social historian Paul E. Johnson gives this deceptively simple story all its deserved richness, revealing in its characters and social settings a virtual microcosm of Jacksonian America. He also relates the real jumper to the mythic Sam Patch who turned up as a daring moral hero in the works of Hawthorne and Melville, in London plays and pantomimes, and in the spotlight with Davy Crockett'a Sam Patch who became the namesake of Andrew Jackson's favorite horse. In his shrewd and powerful analysis, Johnson casts new light on aspects of American society that we may have overlooked or underestimated. This is innovative American history at its best. [editor summary]

Niagara is rich with fascinating stories, from daredevils to heroics. From the horrors during the War of 1812, to murder, to technological innovation and the birth of the modern tourist industry, Niagara has seen it all:

* In 1901, Annie Taylor was the first person to go over the falls in a barrel...and survive
* It is said that the former Houdini Hall of Fame was cursed by the dead escape artist himself, and that he was responsible for its demise
* For two weeks in 1952, Niagara Falls shared the spotlight with another attraction, Hollywood starlet Marilyn Monroe
* Maria Spelterini was the first and only woman to cross Niagara on a tightrope...and then she disappears from history
* Adulterer Arthur Hoyt Day decided to rid himself of one wife by throwing her into the Niagara gorge; he paid the ultimate price for his crime
* Nikola Tesla, an eccentric but brilliant inventor, tamed the falls and revolutionized electricity forever
* In 1913, a barge ran aground at the precipice of the falls, creating a landmark and a tale of heroic rescue that endures to this day.
* And so much more...

The stunt of choice for challenging Niagara Falls has been to go over it in a barrel. As this book documents, however, there have been many other innovative approaches to the falls. Beginning early in the 19th century, a number of individuals simply jumped, unencumbered by the likes of
barrels or boats. Various performers walked tightropes over the falls, incorporating an escalating variety of stunts and props to add interest to their feats. History records dozens of intrepid sailors navigating through the whirlpool rapids using vessels ranging from rubber rafts, through kayaks, to the earliest Maid of the Mist.

Riding barrels through the rapids came next. Its many proponents included Red Hill Sr. and Red Hill Jr. The son eventually moved on to actually going “over” the falls, and lost his life to the challenge. Anna Edson Taylor was the first person to go over the falls in a barrel, and unlike Red Hill Jr., she survived. Many others have tried, some successfully, others tragically. They made headlines briefly and then were lost to public memory, but the whole amazing history has been gathered by Cheryl MacDonald.

Niagara Daredevils is a fascinating and well-documented slice of local history that leaves the reader wondering what will be the 21st century’s manifestation of this obsession.