1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Since we had something of a daredevil story 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:09,639 Speaker 1: in this week's episode on Sonora Webster Carver, we thought 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: we would stay in that theme for this week's classic. 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: It is Annie Edson Taylor, who was the first person 5 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. This episode 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: originally came out July nine, two thousand eighteen, and enjoy 7 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 9 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. I went 10 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: on a trip just the other week that involved flying 11 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: into Buffalo, New York, and since we were so close 12 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: by Niagara Falls, we went to Niagara Falls. I had 13 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: never been there before, and it reminded me that way 14 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: back last summer, I had been planning to do a 15 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: podcast on people going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, 16 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: and then I stumbled across an article about Annett Kellerman 17 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: while I was doing the research for that. I got 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: completely distracted. I forgot totally about it. Having been reminded 19 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: by going to the actual waterfall, we are going to 20 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: get back to that today with Annie Edson Taylor, who 21 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in 22 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: a barrel, and we're going to start off with a 23 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,199 Speaker 1: little bit of a brief history of industrialization and commercialization 24 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: at Niagara because this whole barrel trip was part of 25 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: a much bigger story of tourism and Daredevil's at this 26 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: natural wonder So. Niagara Falls is a collection of three 27 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: waterfalls on the border between the United States and Canada, 28 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: Ontario on the Canadian side, and New York on the U. 29 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: S side, and they're on the Niagara River between Lake 30 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: Erie and Lake Ontario. The falls are the Horseshoe Falls, 31 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: the American Falls, and the Bridal Veil Falls. Sometimes Horseshoe 32 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 1: Falls is known as Canadian Falls. Most of the she 33 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: falls around the Canadian side of the border, while American 34 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: Falls and Bridal Veil Falls are both in the United States. 35 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: Horseshoe Falls is the biggest of the three. It's the 36 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: one that's shaped like a horseshoe, like its name suggests, 37 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: and it's what comes to mind for a lot of 38 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: people when you say Niagara Falls. Yeah, it's impressive in persons, 39 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,960 Speaker 1: it's it does have sort of the iconic aspect to it. 40 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: The area around Niagara Falls has been home to a 41 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: number of Iroquois speaking indigenous people's leading up to the 42 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 1: seventeenth century. A confederation known as the Neutral lived on 43 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,920 Speaker 1: what would become the Canadian side of the river, and 44 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: this name comes from the French describing them as neutral 45 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: in conflicts between other Iroquois nations and confederation. Uh So 46 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: this is a guess at pronunciation because we couldn't find 47 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: a clear one, but the uh when Roaring On or 48 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,960 Speaker 1: when Row lived on the other side, and the Neutral 49 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: Confederation and the win Row were allies until sixteen thirty nine. 50 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: After that, a combination of wars, epidemics, and other factors 51 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: led to both of them being dispersed by and absorbed 52 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: into other Iroquois tribes and nations. Yeah, there are descendants 53 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: of these people surely living still today. But there's a 54 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: whole complicated history of all the various Iroquois peoples that 55 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: they were not a monolith, so some people wound up 56 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: going to completely different parts of the country. Others sort 57 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: of made their way into other tribes and nations. The 58 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: first European known to see the falls was probably Father 59 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: Louis Hennepin, who was a French priest in sixteen seventy eight, 60 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: and he wrote about it after he got back to France. 61 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: Although in his account he said that the falls were 62 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: six hundred feet tall, they are really about a hundred 63 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: and seventy feet or fifty two meters tall. The first 64 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: Europeans settlements in the area were started after the Revolutionary War. 65 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: It's hard to eyeball distance and scale, I understood, and 66 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: they are quite impressive. They are I could see where 67 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: you would you would think they were way bigger than 68 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: they actually are. The nearby city of Buffalo, New York, 69 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: started to grow dramatically after the completion of the Erie Canal, 70 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 1: which connected the Great Lakes to Albany, New York, and 71 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: then from all Many people could reach New York City 72 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: via the Hudson River, and as railroads started to expand 73 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: in the nineteenth century, Buffalo became a major railway hub. 74 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: Its proximity to Niagara Falls helped make the falls a 75 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: major tourist destination. In eighteen o one, Theodosia Burr and 76 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: Joseph Alston visited the falls as part of their honeymoon. 77 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 1: They were kind of the it couple at the time, 78 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: and that's this helps set the trend of Niagara as 79 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: a honeymoon destination, although sometimes people will give that credit 80 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: to Napoleon Bonaparte's brother Jerome, who also honeymooned there in 81 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: eighteen o four. It was another hundred years or so, though, 82 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: before Niagara Falls really started billing itself as the honeymoon 83 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: capital of the world. By the eighteen thirties, the tourist 84 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: industry was booming in Niagara Falls. Hotels and knickknack shops 85 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: and tourist attractions were popping up everywhere, and developers were 86 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,320 Speaker 1: buying the prettiest vantage points along the river so that 87 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: they could charge people to take a look. And people 88 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: were already complaining that the area around the falls was 89 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:22,600 Speaker 1: too commercial and too tacky. So complaints about commercialization at 90 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 1: Nagra not not new remotely, and it was much to 91 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 1: the chagrin of European visitors. And the words of Alexis 92 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:36,040 Speaker 1: to Toqueville and a letter to a friend in one quote, 93 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: if you wish to see this place in its grandeur, hasten. 94 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: If you delay, your Niagara will have been spoiled for you. 95 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:47,040 Speaker 1: Already the forest round it is being cleared. The Romans 96 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: are putting steeples on the pantheon. I don't give the 97 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: Americans ten years to establish a saw or flour mill 98 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: at the base of the cataract. This letter was president. 99 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: Industry also became a major part of the Niagara scene, 100 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: with mills and their water wheels dotting the river. Nicola 101 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: Tesla famously worked on a hydro power plant that started 102 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: operation on November six. Eventually, there were so many mills 103 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: that they physically affected the flow of the water over 104 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,280 Speaker 1: the falls. Some of the tourist attractions that still exist 105 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: today date back to the nineteenth century. The Maid of 106 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,000 Speaker 1: the Mist started operating in eighteen forty six. That's one 107 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 1: of the boats that will take you up to the 108 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: bottom of the falls and a little colorful poncho. At first, 109 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: the Mate of the Mist was a passenger vessel that 110 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:40,719 Speaker 1: was carrying people across the river, so it was serving 111 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 1: a much more practical role. When a suspension bridge opened 112 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 1: across the river in eighteen forty eight, the Maid of 113 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: the Mist became a sightseeing vessel. By the eighteen sixties, 114 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,160 Speaker 1: there was so much commercial activity and other development at 115 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: Niagara that people started calling for some kind of preservation effort. 116 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:02,320 Speaker 1: A group of politicians and prominent public figures started the 117 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: Free Niagara movement to encourage the State of New York 118 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 1: to buy back some of the private land and restore 119 00:07:08,640 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: it as a public park. It was both about preserving 120 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: the natural beauty of the park and making it so 121 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: that people could view the falls for free, rather than 122 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 1: having to pay a mill owner for a peak at 123 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: a view that also included all of their industrial equipment. 124 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: This eventually led to the Niagara Reservation Act in eighteen 125 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: eighty three and the creation of Niagara Falls State Park, 126 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: established as Niagara Reservation in eighteen eighty five. The park 127 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: itself was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The Niagara Parks 128 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: Commission was established in Ontario in eighteen eighty five as well, 129 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: and on the Canadian side the area adjacent to the 130 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: falls as Queen Victoria Park today. Throughout all this time 131 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:56,559 Speaker 1: of commercialization, industrialization, and preservation at Niagara, performers were also 132 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: working at the falls, trying to make a living by 133 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: entertaining to wrists, and in the days before TV and film, 134 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: daredevils were a huge draw. Sam Patch, also known as 135 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: the Yankee Leaper, jumped off a platform on Goat Island, 136 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: which is between Horseshoe and American Falls. On October seven nine, 137 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: he jumped from a height of eighty five feet it's 138 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,480 Speaker 1: about twenty six ms, and he survived. He made another 139 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:25,440 Speaker 1: jump from a height of a hundred and thirty feet 140 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: that's forty on October seventeen. He survived that one too, 141 00:08:30,520 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 1: although he died during a jump near Rochester less than 142 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: a month later. There was also a lot of wire 143 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: walking at the falls. Jean Francois Gravels, also known as 144 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: Charles Blondin, was the first person to cross the falls 145 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:49,200 Speaker 1: on a tight rope on June fifty nine. About twenty 146 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: five thousand spectators gathered to watch him do this, and 147 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: then he went on to do a whole whole lot 148 00:08:56,280 --> 00:09:00,160 Speaker 1: of other wire walking stunts at Niagara, including carrying his 149 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,560 Speaker 1: manager across on his back, and one time carrying a 150 00:09:03,679 --> 00:09:06,959 Speaker 1: stove to the halfway point and cooking breakfast on there, 151 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: and once he was done cooking this omelet or whatever, 152 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: he lowered it down to people on board the Maid 153 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: of the Mist on the river below. He kept doing 154 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: all of this Dare Devilry until eighteen six, and he 155 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 1: was the first of really many wire walkers at the falls. 156 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: That is a big old ball of nope for me. Yeah. 157 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: There well, and there's I mean, there is still wire 158 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: walking at the falls. Like I remember back in the 159 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: day when we were owned by Discovery, they were being 160 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: a much hyped wire walk at the falls that was 161 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: beyond TV. It's still a thing. Yeah, all of that 162 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,200 Speaker 1: is a big note for me. Uh, Like, why would 163 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: you do that when you could sit on the boat. 164 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: I understand the impulse, I just it's not for me. Uh. 165 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: Steve Brody claimed that he went over the falls in 166 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,920 Speaker 1: nothing but a padded rubber suit in eight but there 167 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 1: is no evidence that his feet ever actually happened. He 168 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: had also made a disputed claim to have jumped off 169 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: the Brooklyn Bridge and survived. One popular stunt was to 170 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 1: try to survive the extremely treacherous Niagara Whirlpool, which is 171 00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 1: downstream from Niagara Falls at a point where the river 172 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,440 Speaker 1: makes a sharp bend. People would try to make it 173 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: through this treacherous whirlpool in barrels or sometimes protected by 174 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: nothing other than a life preserver. On June sixth of 175 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:31,680 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty one, Joel Robinson successfully took the Maid of 176 00:10:31,679 --> 00:10:34,360 Speaker 1: the Mists through the whirlpool after it was sold to 177 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: a company in Montreal that would only accept delivery on 178 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 1: Lake Ontario. Matthew Webb, who had been the first person 179 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: to swim across the English Channel, died trying to swim 180 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,680 Speaker 1: that stretch of the river in eighty three. This is 181 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: just a sampling of all the dare devil stunting that 182 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: was going on at Niagara Falls leading up to the 183 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: turn of the twentieth century. But one thing all of 184 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: these dar devils had in common. Nearly all of them 185 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:04,320 Speaker 1: were men. It was a very masculine world, which made 186 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: the first person to go over a falls in a 187 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: barrel even more of a novelty. And we're going to 188 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: talk about her after we paused for a sponsor break. 189 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: Annie Edson was born October eight near Auburn, New York. 190 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,800 Speaker 1: Her parents were Merrick Edson and Lucretia Warren, and the 191 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,439 Speaker 1: family was pretty well off. Merrick owned some milling interests 192 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 1: in the family spent their summers out in the country 193 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: and their winters in the city, and he also had 194 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: at least two older brothers. She had an adventurous streak 195 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: from the time she was quite young. She liked to 196 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: be outdoors and to read adventure stories, and she also 197 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 1: had a fondness for Roman history. Her father died when 198 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,840 Speaker 1: she was ten, and at fourteen, she and her brothers 199 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: were sent to a private seminary to finish their educations. 200 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: Four years later and he married David S. Taylor. They 201 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,680 Speaker 1: had one child together, although the baby didn't live past infancy. 202 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,800 Speaker 1: David was killed while fighting in the Civil War, and 203 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,679 Speaker 1: at first Annie still had enough money to live on, 204 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,320 Speaker 1: but it soon became clear that that money was not 205 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:19,560 Speaker 1: gonna last forever. Her seminary education also hadn't really set 206 00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: her up for supporting herself, so she enrolled in a 207 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,599 Speaker 1: state teaching college. After she finished her studies at the 208 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: teaching college, she spent a few years traveling to different 209 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: cities where she had friends and family working as a teacher. 210 00:12:32,880 --> 00:12:35,200 Speaker 1: It was, I mean, really, it was all over the 211 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: United States. She also went back to school again to 212 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 1: study dance and physical culture. If you remember from our 213 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 1: episode on Fort Shaw, Indian school, physical culture is a 214 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 1: combination of calisthenics and strength training in general health and 215 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 1: wellness that was really popular in the nineteenth century. She 216 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:55,079 Speaker 1: started teaching dance and physical culture and even opening her 217 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:59,959 Speaker 1: own school. Even though that school failed. Sometime around Taylor 218 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: her moved to Bay City, Michigan. By this point, she 219 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: was really unhappy with her prospects for her life. She 220 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: had gone from a comfortable childhood and youth to working 221 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: as an itinerant teacher. She had also had a series 222 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: of misfortunes in which she lost a lot of the 223 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: savings that she had, including living through both a robbery 224 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: and a fire. There were no pensions or retirement programs, 225 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: and she didn't want to be poor or live off 226 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: the charity of her friends, so she kept trying to 227 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: think of ways to earn money, enough money to be 228 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:36,320 Speaker 1: self sufficient and comfortable again. According to some accounts, she 229 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:40,679 Speaker 1: had heard about Steve Brodie's alleged stunt at Niagara Falls, 230 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:43,360 Speaker 1: and she didn't think he had really done it. But 231 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:46,960 Speaker 1: it's possible that having heard about that planted the seed 232 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: for her own stunt. Later on, in her words, quote, 233 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: two years I had been constantly studying, when not occupied 234 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: in teaching, what I could do to make money, to 235 00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:01,920 Speaker 1: make it honestly and quickly, All kinds of schemes ran 236 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: riot through my brain. Reading in a New York paper 237 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: about people going to the Pan American Exposition and from 238 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: there to Niagara Falls. The idea came to me like 239 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 1: a flash of light, go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. 240 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: No one has ever accomplished this feat. I did not 241 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: think it wrong, as there was nothing immodest in the act, 242 00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: nor did it involve the life of anyone but myself. 243 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:27,320 Speaker 1: I believe in prayer and that God will answer if 244 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: only there is faith. As my motive was not a 245 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,640 Speaker 1: selfish one, but to succor to friends, one who has 246 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: little children, the other indelicate health, and to aid myself financially. 247 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,160 Speaker 1: I believed I would live. I was determined to live, 248 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:45,640 Speaker 1: to vindicate to the world God's mercy and goodness. So 249 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: it was a side note the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, 250 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: which she referenced there is where President William McKinley was assassinated. 251 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,360 Speaker 1: He was shot on September one, and he died several 252 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,880 Speaker 1: days later. It's not totally here where in the timeline 253 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: Taylor thought up this stunt, or whether the assassination affected 254 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: her plans at all. Regardless, though she knew that to 255 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: make this journey and survive, she would need the right barrel. 256 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: She started mocking up models, cutting them out of paper 257 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: and sewing them together with twine, and ultimately she designed 258 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 1: a custom made barrel that was about five ft or 259 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: one and a half meters tall, and it had a 260 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: twelve inch head, a twenty four inch middle, and a 261 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: fifteen inch foot, so that's thirty centimeters sixty centimeters and 262 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: thirty eight centimeters from head to foot. She selected white 263 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:40,480 Speaker 1: Kentucky oak for the wood, with ten riveted metal hoops. 264 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 1: Taylor also planned for a ballast sometimes it's described as 265 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: an anvil that would be in the bottom of the barrel, 266 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: and she hoped this would make the barrel stay upright 267 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: while she floated down the river, rather than having it 268 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: just roll around every which way with her inside of it. 269 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: She looked for a cooper to make the barrel, and 270 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 1: once she found one, he refused to do it. He 271 00:16:02,600 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: thought this was way too dangerous a plan for any 272 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: person and that she would surely be killed if she 273 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,160 Speaker 1: tried it, but she persisted and eventually he gave in. 274 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,880 Speaker 1: The final barrel had the words Queen of the Mist 275 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: on the side. Going over the falls in a barrel 276 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: was just one step, and Taylor's plan for her future 277 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: prosperity from there. She was planning to go on a 278 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: lecture tour, so she hired a man named Frank M. 279 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: Russell to act as her manager. She decided on October 280 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: twenty three, nineteen o one, as the day for her plunge. 281 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: This was the day before her sixty third birthday. But 282 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:39,840 Speaker 1: thinking that no one would want to come and see 283 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: a sixty something woman daredevil or on the lecture circuit, 284 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: she and Russell described her as being twenty years younger. 285 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 1: Everyone but Taylor, and maybe also Russell, thought this was 286 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: a terrible idea. Authorities thought it was so dangerous that 287 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: they told Russell they would charge him with manslaughter if 288 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: Taylor died in the attempt. But even as everyone she 289 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: encountered try to talk her out of it, Taylor insisted 290 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: that she would do it. She even did a trial 291 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: run by sending her cat over in a barrel on 292 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:13,120 Speaker 1: the eighteenth of October. According to most reports, the cat 293 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:17,680 Speaker 1: was frightened. But okay, it makes me like her very much, frankly, 294 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: but makes a lot of people not like her very much. 295 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 1: I understand the I own thing. I read one. Uh, 296 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: you know. There are a number of sort of retrospectives 297 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:32,520 Speaker 1: in more recent years that people have written, and there 298 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:35,640 Speaker 1: was one that I read that just was not charitable 299 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 1: in its read of her at all, and that was 300 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: one of the things the person was so mad about. 301 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: But on the twenty three, the day she had selected, 302 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 1: the weather was bad. High winds made the surface of 303 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:52,479 Speaker 1: the already fast moving Niagara River incredibly choppy. She had 304 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:56,360 Speaker 1: hired two men to assist her, Fred Trusdale and William 305 00:17:56,400 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: Holleran Truesdale and hollerand looked at the water and they 306 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: said there was no way that they could safely navigate 307 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:07,200 Speaker 1: to the drop off point in those conditions. Taylor was crushed, 308 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: but she tried again. The next day, her sixty third birthday. 309 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: She was Dale and Holler and rode her out to 310 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,639 Speaker 1: Grass Island, and there, away from the crowds of thousands 311 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:18,360 Speaker 1: of people who had come to watch her do this, 312 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: she took off her hat and coat and overskirt and 313 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:25,439 Speaker 1: got into this barrel. Inside she tied one strap around 314 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,439 Speaker 1: her waist and another around her foot with the hope 315 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:30,679 Speaker 1: of keeping her head from slamming into the top of 316 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: the barrel. The barrel was packed with cushioning, and once 317 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: the lid was on her assistance used a bicycle pump 318 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: to pump in more air. Sometimes this is described as 319 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:43,960 Speaker 1: trying to pressurize it, but she was afraid of running 320 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:47,399 Speaker 1: out of oxygen before getting to the falls. To avoid 321 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:50,800 Speaker 1: being swept over the falls themselves, her assistance had to 322 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: cut her loose almost a mile away, so she had 323 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: a lengthy journey before even getting to the falls, followed 324 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: by a wait for someone to fish her out of 325 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,160 Speaker 1: the water. One the air had been pumped in, Taylor 326 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: plugged the air hole with a cork almost immediately, though 327 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,399 Speaker 1: it turned out that her fears of running out of air, uh, 328 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 1: we're maybe not totally founded it the barrel was not airtight. 329 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: It also was not watertight. It started leaking, and soon 330 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: her feet were in a pool of freezing water. At 331 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 1: about four in the afternoon, after rowing to the deepest 332 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:25,919 Speaker 1: part of the river, Taylor's assistance cut her loose. And 333 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: that's where we're going to pause for a sponsor break. 334 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 1: Here's how Annie Edson Taylor described those first moments adrift 335 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,239 Speaker 1: in the Niagara River. Quote, my heart swelled, and for 336 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: some moments I felt as though I were being suffocated, 337 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: but I determined to be brave by a supreme effort 338 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: of will. I calmed myself at once and began earnestly 339 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: to pray if it was God's will to spare my life, 340 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:01,720 Speaker 1: if not give me an easy death. This reminds me 341 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: a little bit of Henry Box Brown's account of being 342 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: in the box while being shipped around. I'm gonna say 343 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:09,480 Speaker 1: he has a much better reason to be put in 344 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,239 Speaker 1: a box and sent somewhere. I wholly concur But just 345 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 1: that moment of like I'm trapped, I'm just gonna pray 346 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,440 Speaker 1: and look like I'm either going to gut it out 347 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: or it's gonna end. The rapids on the Upper Niagara 348 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 1: turned out to not be all that bad. The water 349 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 1: in the barrel kept getting deeper, and there was the 350 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: constant tension and anticipation of when she would get to 351 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,159 Speaker 1: the falls and whether she would survive going over, But 352 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 1: in terms of how rough the ride itself was, she 353 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: was pleasantly surprised. Then, at about four twenty three, the 354 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,919 Speaker 1: barrel finally shot over the falls, and her words quote, 355 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: I thought, for a moment my senses were lost. The 356 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: feeling was one of absolute horror, But I still knew 357 00:20:50,320 --> 00:20:52,879 Speaker 1: when I struck the water of the lower river. The 358 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: shock was not so great, but I went down down 359 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: until the momentum had spent itself. For a few brief 360 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:04,479 Speaker 1: moments she was completely underwater, but then the submerged barrel 361 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: came back up under the torrent, and that turned out 362 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: to be worse than the anticipation or the fall. She 363 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:14,280 Speaker 1: described it as being whirled like a dasher in a churn. 364 00:21:15,119 --> 00:21:19,439 Speaker 1: After several terrifying minutes, constantly spinning and striking rocks, the 365 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:23,000 Speaker 1: barrel finally popped out from under the cataract and Taylor 366 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:27,160 Speaker 1: lost consciousness. But then the Maid of the Mist, which 367 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: had resumed operation in five, came to retrieve the barrel. 368 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: Chief Engineer John Ross was the person who opened the 369 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: barrel and exclaimed, the woman is very much alive, or 370 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,480 Speaker 1: something similar. She replied something along the lines of yes, 371 00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:47,000 Speaker 1: she is, though much hurt and confused. I don't think 372 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,640 Speaker 1: I would be that composed in my initial speech after 373 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: something like that, but probably mine would not be fit 374 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,439 Speaker 1: to print. Taylor was bleeding from a head wound when 375 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 1: she was pulled out of the water, and she almost 376 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 1: certainly had a concussion, but other than that and some bruises, 377 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: she was unharmed. She had become the first person known 378 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: to go over Niagara Falls and survive. Like we said earlier, 379 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: thousands of people had come out to watch this stunt, 380 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: and it was covered in the Niagara area newspapers and 381 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 1: some other scattered newspapers as well, but it wasn't really 382 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:22,160 Speaker 1: that big of a news sensation elsewhere. The Boston Daily 383 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: Globe had a small feature about it, for example, but 384 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 1: when I looked through the New York Times archive, I 385 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 1: didn't find anything about it. As it turned out, her 386 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 1: manager was incompetent of fraud or both. A lot of 387 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:39,080 Speaker 1: other well publicized stunts at Niagara had been performed before 388 00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: throngs of spectators who paid for a seat on bleachers 389 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: that had been put up just for the event. Russell 390 00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: didn't arrange anything like that. The only thing he tried 391 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: to do to make money on the day was sell 392 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: signed photographs. He also didn't do a very good job 393 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,159 Speaker 1: of getting her on her planned lecture tour. She did 394 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: appear at the Pan American Exposition, but the only engagements 395 00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 1: that he lined up for her after that were at 396 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 1: Dime museums, which she thought those were beneath her. So 397 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 1: there's some accountability there on her too. He did line 398 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,320 Speaker 1: up work for her that she did not want to do, 399 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 1: but like it also wasn't the work she had been 400 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: wanting to do. Taylor's decision to build herself as forty 401 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,920 Speaker 1: three instead of sixty three also came back to bite 402 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,400 Speaker 1: her because when people did come to see her, they 403 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: did not believe that this old woman could possibly be 404 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: the forty three year old Annie Edson Taylor that they 405 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: had heard about. I actually think the fact that she 406 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: was sixty three could be the selling point right like today, 407 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: it definitely could be the selling point. But no, she 408 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: didn't think that was gonna work. That was a poor 409 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,880 Speaker 1: calculation on their part. The closest thing that Taylor ever 410 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,679 Speaker 1: got to a lecture tour was a series of engagements 411 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:55,159 Speaker 1: appearing in department store windows where she would pose with 412 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:59,679 Speaker 1: her barrel, and then Frank Russell disappeared, taking that barrel 413 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,960 Speaker 1: with him. She found a new manager who hired a 414 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:08,880 Speaker 1: younger woman to impersonate her. Taylor never got her barrel back, 415 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 1: even after borrowing money to hire a private investigator to 416 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 1: go look for it. Eventually, she had a replica barrel 417 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: made and went back to Niagara Falls where she tried 418 00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: to make ends meet by posing with this replica barrel 419 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: on the sidewalk and selling postcards. She also wrote a 420 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,320 Speaker 1: brief autobiography in nineteen two. We have quoted from it. 421 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,679 Speaker 1: It's probably embellished, especially in some of the places we 422 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: didn't quote from, so for example, it took a lot 423 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:38,760 Speaker 1: of guts to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. 424 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:42,400 Speaker 1: But she also said that while being robbed at gunpoint, 425 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 1: she looked at a robber who had a gun to 426 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:46,679 Speaker 1: her head and said, quote, blow away. I would as 427 00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:49,679 Speaker 1: soon be without brains as without money, And that as 428 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:52,119 Speaker 1: a result is Robert let her live. That just seems 429 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:55,919 Speaker 1: like an unbelievable presence of mind in the middle of 430 00:24:55,960 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: an armed robbery. But maybe that's just me. Yeah, I 431 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:02,879 Speaker 1: don't know. I mean, to me, it seems impossible. I 432 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: couldn't pull that off. But I also would have said 433 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: a whole lot of expletives when I came out of 434 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,720 Speaker 1: a barrel, So I clearly I am not of a 435 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: mind to handle either of these things in the commist 436 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: of manners. Annie Edson Taylor spent her last years at 437 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: the Niagara County Almshouse, and she died on April, at 438 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,920 Speaker 1: the age of eighty three. She is buried at Oakwood 439 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 1: Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York, in an area called 440 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,359 Speaker 1: Stranger's Rest, which is the burial site of a number 441 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: of Niagara Daredevils. After Annie Edson Taylor survived her trip 442 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,160 Speaker 1: over Niagara Falls, She's reported to have said, no one 443 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:44,600 Speaker 1: ought to ever do that again, or, to be even 444 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: more direct, quote, I would sooner walk up to the 445 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: mouth of a cannon knowing it was going to blow 446 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 1: me to pieces than make another trip over the falls. 447 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: You know. She just seems like maybe she had like 448 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: a way with words, But in spite of these warnings, 449 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:03,000 Speaker 1: she'd did start something of a trend. In addition to 450 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,480 Speaker 1: people who have been swept over the falls by accident 451 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,680 Speaker 1: or have intentionally gone over without intending to survive, at 452 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: least sixteen people have tried going over the falls in 453 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,840 Speaker 1: a barrel or some other kind of barrel like device 454 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 1: since Annie Edson Taylor did it. Eleven of those people 455 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:24,080 Speaker 1: have survived. The next person after Taylor was Bobby Leach. 456 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: He went over the falls on July eleven, so not 457 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,800 Speaker 1: quite ten years later. Before his trip over the falls, 458 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: and a steel barrel. He had performed with Barnamon Bailey's 459 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: Circus as a diver and a stunt swimmer. He did 460 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:39,560 Speaker 1: this stunt as part of a much hyped triple challenge 461 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,920 Speaker 1: that also involved him parachuting off the upper suspension bridge 462 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: at Niagara and going through the whirlpool in a barrel. 463 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:50,160 Speaker 1: He broke several bones and as he was going over 464 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 1: the falls, and then after he recovered, he went on 465 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: a speaking tour of the United States in Europe with 466 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 1: his barrel. He was on a four month speaking tour 467 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:00,800 Speaker 1: of New Zealand when he slipped on an orange peel, 468 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: broke his leg and died of complications of gangreing on 469 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: a So while he did have more of a career 470 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: in showmanship than Any's Ads and Taylor did, this is 471 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:16,440 Speaker 1: definitely a case of like him doing something she had 472 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:19,439 Speaker 1: done ten years before, but becoming famous for it in 473 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:21,280 Speaker 1: a way she had not been able to do. Yeah, 474 00:27:21,320 --> 00:27:23,440 Speaker 1: he kind of had exactly the career she had hoped 475 00:27:23,480 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: for right up until that orange peel incident. Yeah. Also, 476 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:30,120 Speaker 1: don't go over Niagara in a barrel. It's dangerous and illegal. 477 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:35,640 Speaker 1: We're not advocating going over Niagara in a barrel just 478 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,320 Speaker 1: I mean I again, clearly, I am not a daredevil 479 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: in my heart, but I just don't get it. Sit 480 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: in a nice restaurant nearby and watched the falls and eat. 481 00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:49,119 Speaker 1: That's what we did at Niagara Falls. After walking around 482 00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,240 Speaker 1: Niagara Falls, we had a wonderful lunch at a lovely 483 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 1: restaurant where we sat there and watched the falls while 484 00:27:55,160 --> 00:28:08,640 Speaker 1: we ate. That sounds great, great, It was great. Thanks 485 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: so much for joining us on this Saturday. 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