Annie Edson Taylor was a school teacher and dancing instructor. She was also a widow, her husband having died in America’s Civil War.
While Annie had money inherited from her parent’s business, the money soon ran out and she was left to figure out how to earn enough income to keep her in the comfortable lifestyle she was used to. That was when she hatched the plan to go over the Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel.
On October 24, 1901, at the age of 63, Annie made her daring plunge.
The barrel was a wooden pickle barrel. It was five feet high and three feet in diameter.
Cushions were added to the inside of the barrel to soften the fall and a leather harness was used to hold her in place.
Once inside the barrel, Annie was towed into position and let loose.
The barrel went over the Horseshoe Falls and she was violently knocked around inside the barrel.
But she made it through the ordeal
Roughly twenty minutes after she was sent over the edge, she emerged from the barrel. She was bruised and had a slight cut on her forehead, but she alive.
Immediately after the stunt, she took advantage of photo opportunities and speaking engagements, but the fame did not last for long.
She soon found herself in need of an income, but said she would never again take the plunge over the Niagara Falls.
While Annie passed away penniless at the age of 82 at the Niagara County Infirmary, she became forever known as the first person to go over the Falls in a barrel, and live to tell the tale.
