Who was the world's second person to go over Niagara Falls in a Barrel?
Going over either the Canadian or
the American Niagara Falls is illegal on both sides of the border however, that
hasn’t stopped 14 people from attempting the great stunt, in a barrel or
otherwise. A barrel is the most popular way to venture over the Falls as it
provides the most overall protection for the entire body. While some have walked
away from the experience with nothing more than some scrapes and minor injuries,
the Falls have claimed the lives of some of those daredevils through either
drowning or being crushed against the many boulders and rocks that lie along the
sides and most prominently, at the bottom of the Falls.
On July 25, 1911, Bobby Leach was the second person
to go over the Falls in a barrel, just months shy of a decade when the same
attempt was completed by Annie Edson Taylor. Although Leach was the second
person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, he was the first man to do so.
Leach was definitely not afraid of doing daredevil stunts such as this as he
spent much of his time traveling with the Barnum and Bailey Circus. After
completing, and surviving his jump, Leach was hospitalized for 6 months due to
several injuries that he sustained during the Fall. Two broken kneecaps and a
fractured jaw were only some of his injuries. Leach was also the first person to
ever gain anything other than bragging rights from his trip as a con-man that
Annie had working for her took everything that she earned. Leach however, would
tour lecture halls and auditoriums, with his barrel in tow, and tell people his
story of surviving the trip over the Falls in a barrel.
Bobby Leach
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