First Tightrope Walker to Cross Niagara Falls
Jean Francois Gravelot (The Great Blondin) Amazed Crowds with Tightrope Feats “funambulists” (aerialists/tightrope-walkers)
On June 30, 1859, at 5 pm, Blondin made his first journey across the Falls. He wore a dark wig, a vest of purple plush and a pair of white Turkish pantaloons. For this crossing, Blondin utilized a 1,300 foot long , 3 inch diameter manila rope stretched from what is now Prospect Park in Niagara Falls, New York to what is now Oakes Garden in Niagara Falls, Ontario. He began his first walk from the American side and completed his crossing in 20 minutes. Blondin used a thirty-foot long balancing pole that weighed 40 pounds. He stepped onto the tightrope and started his long descent down the cable, which, at midpoint, was fifty feet lower over the gorge. There he stopped, dropped a bottle tied a piece of twine into the Maid of the Mist tourist boat below, hauled up some Niagara River water, drank it, and resumed his journey, uphill this time. He arrived on the far bank triumphant, though bathed in sweat. He rested briefly, accepted a glass of champagne, performed a little dance on the rope, and walked back across in just eight minutes. The appeal of the event rested on the crowd’s secret delight in the possibility that Blondin would fall.
For two summers, Blondin performed above the Niagara. During his subsequent performances, he crossed the Falls on a bicycle, on stilts, and at night. He swung by one arm, turned somersaults, and stood on his head on a chair. Once he pushed a stove in a wheelbarrow and cooked an omelet. On one occasion, he crossed blindfold in a heavy sack made of blankets. But his greatest feat was to carry a man across on his back. During his fifth exhibition, he persuaded his manager, Harry Colcord, to climb on his back and to hazard the long trip across the gorge. Colcord later described Blondin as “a piece of marble, eery muscle…tense and rigid.”
At his last Niagara Falls performance, September 8th 1860, he sat a table balanced on the tightrope and ate cake and drank champagne. In 1860, the Prince of Wales persuaded Blondin to come to London's Crystal Palace. The aerialist performed in London and Europe until 1896. The next year, at the age of 73, he died at his home, which was aptly named “Niagara,” located in Ealing, near England. More than a dozen daredevils would follow Blondin to Niagara to equal his performance. But Blondin would always have the distinction of being the first.
Biography
Jean Francois (or Emile) Gravelet, aka Charles Blondin, was considered to be one of the greatest funambulists (aerialists/tightrope-walkers) of all time. He was born in St. Omer, France on Feb. 28, 1824. (Joseph Smith was translating the BoM)
Blondin saw his first rope-walker at age five when a traveling circus troupe pitched camp near his home. He came home after the show and immediately strung up a makeshift rope in his back yard between two chairs and started to practice rope-walking. Blondin's father was a gymnast himself and took the rope-walking interest seriously. He sent Blondin to the Ecole de Gymanse in Lyons that same year. After only six months training, Blondin made his debut as "The Little Wonder". At age 9 Blondin was orphaned and he began performing professionally.
In 1851 Blondin was recruited by the agent of Mr. William Niblo to perform with the Ravel Troupe at Niblo's Garden. It was while he was with this company that he devised the show-name of Charles Blondin -- the troupe had two brothers with the last name Javell, and it was thought there would be confusion at the similarity. He chose "Blondin" for the color of his hair. Blondin was with the troupe for several years. On their American tour he found his way to Niagara Falls, and his greatest fame.
Blondin became obsessed with the idea of crossing the falls the first time he saw them in 1858. A year after his initial visit, he returned to accomplish the feat. The stunt was not without controversy. Many people felt that a stunt like Blondin's would trivialize the falls, turning them into a backdrop for a circus act, and should not be allowed. Blondin's original plan was to string his rope to Goat Island, but the owners supported the opposition and denied him permission. Eventually, Blondin was allowed to string his wire a mile further down-stream and on June 30, 1859, he was the first man ever to cross Niagara Falls by tightrope. A large crowd of 100,000 people watched him walk on a single three-inch hemp cord, 1,100 feet long and 160 feet above the falls at one side and 270 feet at the other. You can read the details of the crossing on page 3 in the copy of the July 4, 1859, Chicago Tribune article.
Blondin made many more trips across the gorge during the next year and became popularly known as "the Prince of Manila" (the rope he used was made of Manila.) Each time, he thrilled larger crowds with more exciting acts. He balanced a chair on the rope and stood on it. He took pictures of the crowd while he balanced on the rope. He cooked a meal on a small portable cooker and lowered it to amazed passengers on the Maid of the Mist below. He crossed blindfolded, in a sack, on stilts, and trundling a wheel barrow. On August 17, 1859 he increased the risk by carrying his manager, Harry Colcord, across on his back. When the Prince of Wales visited in September, 1860, Blondin carried his assistant, Romain Mouton, across and performed antics on the way. The prince, like other spectators, was left breathless and asked Blondin never to do it again. Imagine the Prince's reaction when Blondin offered to carry him across on his back or in a wheelbarrow!
During his first few years in America, Blondin started his family. He met and married his wife, Charlotte, in New York somewhere around 1853. By Niagara Falls he had three children, all born on tour -- Adele was born in New York, Edward in Louisiana, and Isis in Ohio. During 1860 (the year he performed at the falls) he bought a house and settled his family in the town of Niagara. Harry Colcord and two servants are listed with them on the 1860 census. Another alias appears for him on this record -- John F. Blondin. I'm guessing it's the American version of Jean Francois.
Blondin remained popular for the rest of his life. He continued to thrill audiences for many years after Niagara and was showered with medals, gifts, and money. The Blondin March was even composed in his honor. His fee was said to be $500 a performance and in his last two seasons, he reportedly made over $400,000. Blondin retired to South Ealing, England (a suburb of London) a rich man. He settled his family in a house he named Niagara Villa -- but he did not remain there long. In 1861, at the request of the Prince of Wales, he appeared in London at the Crystal Palace, reenacting all his Niagara Falls stunts before a backdrop of the falls. His young daughter Adele accompanied him on high-wire acts during this engagement and it caused great controversy. In spite of this, he received many more requests to perform and at the age of 64 he reappeared in the United States for a series of exhibitions on Staten Island, N.Y. His final performance was given in Belfast, Ireland, in 1896 at the age of 68.
The French daredevil lived to be 73 years old and died peacefully in his bed in Ealing on February 22, 1897 of diabetes. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London next to his first and second wives: Charlotte (died 1888) and Katherine (died 1901).
One theme that ran through all I've read about Charles Blondin was his personality. Everyone who encountered Blondin found him to be a charismatic, confident, powerful man. He was a showman at heart and everything he did was dramatic. He seemed to have a very large ego, but received only admiration for this quality. Blondin loved his work, and the people loved "The Great Blondin".
Sources:
Everybody's Heard of Blondin by Ken Wilson.
Encyclopedia Britanica (1996 Edition)
Encyclopedia Americana (1996 Edition)
Two Hundred Years of the American Circus by Tom Ogden
Niagara by Ralph Greenhill and Thomas D. Mahoney
The Guinness Book of World Records
All About Niagara Falls by Linda Granfield
A Picture Book of Niagara Falls by Pierre Berton
Niagara by Pierre Berton
Daredevils of Niagara by Andy O'Brien
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol. XII (listed under Gravelet)
The New York Daily Tribune Obituary 23 Feb 1897 Pg. 9 Col. 4
The New York Daily Tribune 1 July 1859 Pg. 5 Col. 3
The New York Times Obituary 23 Feb 1897 Pg. 7 Col. 4
The Chicago Tribune Obituary 23 Feb 1897 Pg.7
The Chicago Tribune 4 Jul 1859 Pg. 1
o He started at a young age
o He Had a plan
o He was passionate about it
o Persistent and dedicated at his life’s work
o Got others to believe in him, because his actions backed up his words
o Endured to the end
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