Annie Taylor, Teacher and Adventurer
The First Person to Go Over Niagara Falls in a Barrel
Oct 21, 2009
Annie Taylor was a woman of many trades: a schoolteacher, a dance instructor, an attempted entrepreneur and the first woman to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Until October 24, 1901, no one had ever even contemplated such a feat.
Early Life
Taylor seemed much the misfit in society. She was born October 24, 1839 in Lockport, New York as Annie Edson. Only ten years before her birth, Sam Patch was the first daredevil at Niagara Falls: he leapt from a tower into the gorge and survived.
The Edson family, with four girls and four boys, owned a flour mill which provided a comfortable lifestyle for the ten of them. When father Samuel Edson died when Taylor was twelve, the money he left behind continued to provide a comfortable living for the family.
Annie studied to become a teacher and it was during her studies that she met David Taylor. They were married and had a son who died in infancy. Her husband was killed in the Civil War.
Now a widow, Taylor took on a gypsy form of life, traveling to various cities around the country, working in various teaching capacities. Her travels led her back to New York where she enrolled in dance school to become an instructor. Taylor continued traveling, searching for her niche.
Dance Instructor in Bay City
Eventually, she ended up in Bay City, Michigan where she hoped to be a dance instructor. Since there were no dance schools in Bay City at that time, Taylor opened her own. Soon there were more than 100 students enrolled at Taylor’s dance school. Everything appeared to be going well, but things are not always what they seem.
Taylor was accustomed to the finer things in life and she expected no less for her students. She provided them with the best money could buy, but this only resulted in the dwindling of her profits as well as her own finances.
For reasons unknown, Taylor went to Sault Ste. Marie in 1900 to teach music. It is unclear what happened to her dance school. From Sault Ste. Marie she traveled to San Antonio, Texas where she and a friend got together and went to Mexico City to find work. When this didn’t pan out, Taylor headed back to Bay City where she stayed at a boarding house.
The Inspiration for the Niagara Falls Stunt
Taylor read an article in the New York World about the Pan-American Exposition and the nearby Niagara Falls which was very popular with tourists. Reading the article turned out to be the inspiration for Taylor’s idea to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Since no one else had attempted this stunt, Taylor felt she could garner a good deal of publicity from it and possibly make enough money to see her through her retirement years. She was, after all, in her sixties.
She approached The West Bay City Cooperage Company, who manufactured kegs, about designing a barrel for the stunt. The barrel was four and a half feet high and three feet in diameter. It was equipped with a leather harness and straps and cushions inside to protect Taylor from the impact of the barrel hitting the bottom of the falls. Air was supplied through a rubber tube through a small opening near the top of the barrel.
Frank M. Russell, a local promoter of events in Michigan, promoted Taylor’s event. He notified local newspapers about the upcoming event and displayed the barrel in the window of the Smith and Pursers’ store. On October 10, Russell headed to New York with the barrel to begin promoting the event there. Taylor followed on October 12.
Going Over Niagara Falls in a Barrel
On October 19, the barrel took a test run over the falls with cat, Iagara, inside. Both barrel and cat survived the ordeal and Taylor deemed the barrel ready for the stunt. On Sunday, October 20, the event garnered front page news coverage of the New York Times.
At 4:05 p.m. on October 24, 1901 - Taylor‘s 63rd birthday - Taylor’s barrel with herself inside was set adrift about one mile from the brink of the falls. It drifted towards Horse Shoe Falls which has since become the site of every daredevil stunt attempt.
At 4:23 p.m., the barrel dropped over the falls. Several thousand people were there to witness the event, thanks to promoter Russell. It was approximately twenty minutes after she plunged into the gorge at the bottom of the falls before the barrel drifted far enough away from the strong currents for a boat to reach her. She was found alive and, save for a small gash in her scalp behind her right ear, she was unhurt.
Taylor earned a little money speaking about her experience, but manager Russell took off with the barrel and Taylor spent a good bit of money hiring detectives to find it. She attempted to write a novel, sell autographs and souvenirs in order to earn money from her adventure to live on.
Today, it is illegal to attempt any daredevil stunts over Niagara Falls. Those who do and survive the ordeal face fines and possible imprisonment. American fines are $25,000 and Canadian fines are $10,000 and applies to both those who attempt any such stunts and those who help them. Certainly that is enough to discourage even the contemplation of going over the falls in a barrel or any other device.
Taylor died April 29, 1921 at the age of 83, never having found the fortune she was seeking. But she did make history being the first person ever to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel and live to tell the tale. She is buried in the “Stunters Section” of Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York.
Source:
Bay-Journal, Bay County, Michigan
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