Plunging into the Abyss: The Daredevils of Niagara Falls

Every minute, more than six million cubic feet of water surges over the crest of Niagara Falls, crashing onto the jagged rocks below with deafening force. Located on the border between the United States and Canada, this immense natural spectacle has fascinated travelers for centuries. Yet, beginning in the late nineteenth century, the roaring cataract attracted a unique breed of visitors: daredevils determined to risk their lives for international fame and fortune.

While sixty-three-year-old retired schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to plunge over Horseshoe Falls in a barrel and survive in 1901, men soon lined up to duplicate or surpass her extraordinary feat. Chief among them was Bobby Leach, an English circus performer and veteran stuntman. Convinced that Taylor’s wooden barrel was too fragile, Leach spent months designing an eight-foot-long, heavy-duty steel cylinder. On July 25, 1911, Leach climbed inside his metallic contraption, was sealed within its claustrophobic confines, and was cast adrift into the raging rapids of the upper Niagara River.