ANNIE EDSON TAYLOR THE WOMAN WHO WENT OVER NIAGARA IN A BARREL Facts and photos : http://www.bay-journal.com/bay/1he/people/fp-taylor-annie.html
Annie was born in 1839. She studied to become teacher. She met a man called David Taylor from New York. He was a few years older than Annie who was 17. They got married and had a son, but he died only e few days old. In 1864, Annie suddenly became a widow. David was killied in the Civil War. Now she was all alone. Annie was afraid of not having enough money to live a good life. She traveled all over the country to get a job and earn some money. When she was 43 years old she had crossed the American Continent from ocean to ocean eight times.
One day she read an article in a newspaper about Niagara Falls. She had an idea to make money. �What about going over Niagara Falls in a barrel. No one had ever done that.' " Annie began working on her plan for success. She designed a barrel. A man agreed to take her design and make Annie's special barrel. Then, she contacted a well known man. He was known for many successful carnivals and other events in this area of Michigan.
On October 24, 1901 a small group of river men and reporters stood at the Canadian Horseshoe Falls of Niagara. They watched two men who helped Annie to get ready to go over the Falls. At the bottom of the Falls another group of people stood to watch what was about to take place. Most wondered why this lady was about to do such a crazy thing? (It was learned later that Annie was 63 years old at the time.) Most of the people watching thought that they were about to see a woman that was going to get killed.
The men in the boat placed the barrel over the side of the boat into the water and held it. Then Annie climbed inside. Annie was now ready to begin her historical trip that would take about 18 minutes. The barrel was pulled towards the falls. There was no stopping now! Annie was inside the darkness of her small barrel. She could hear that she came closer to the falls when the sound from the water became louder. In an second, the barrel fell quickly towards the bottom of the fall. Many thought that Annie was dead and the only mystery left for them was if the barrel would make it or if it would turn into a hundred pieces.
It took a little time before they could see the barrel again. It was still in one piece! But what about Annie? A boat with some men stood and waited to get hold of the barrel. When they got hold of the barrel they quickly opened the lid..... "My God, she's alive!" -- shouted a man. Annie's first words were, "I prayed every second I was in the barrel except for a few seconds after the fall when I went unconscious." And, "Nobody ought ever to do that again."
Annie was shaken and had some bad bruises. She was sure that her fame would give her the money that she needed to live a good life. Annie tried to get money by selling things from the event. The sign in front of the table reads, "Annie Edson Taylor Heroine of - Horseshoe Falls." She had to work to get some money. For example: She talked about her trip to groups of people. But soon she had almost no money left. Annie died in 1921 after living the last years as a poor woman. Annie's great story didn’t make her rich but her trip put her into history books forever.