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No, she’s
not dropping a kitten into the barrel. The woman is Annie Edson Taylor
of Bay City. She was the childless widow of a Civil War veteran, who in
1901, took on a daring, albeit foolish act in an effort to gain fame and
fortune. Taylor climbed into this barrel, rode through the rapids and
plunged over Canada’s “Horseshoe Falls.” She became the first
person to go over the falls and survive, though her barrel was damaged
beyond repair. Taylor
toured the country displaying a replica of the barrel, but her stunt
didn’t prove as lucrative as she would have liked, and she died a
pauper in 1921. Her photo and a short article appear in the
January/February 1995 issue of Michigan History magazine.Photo
Niagara Falls Museum
For
more on historical Michigan women, check out the November/December
2002 issue of Michigan History
magazine. |
