Queen of the Falls

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Prior to reading this gorgeously illustrated book, I had never heard of Annie Edson Taylor. She was, in fact, the very first person to go over the Niagara Falls in a barrel and survive. She did this incredible feat on her 63rd birthday, in 1901.

The facts about the Niagara Falls are well known. “The water drops from a height that is as tall as a seventeen-story building.” Fact of the matter is, you’d have to be nutty to even consider going over such falls. Yet that was the idea that appealed so much to Ms. Annie Edson Taylor. A former charm school teacher, Annie was sixty-two years old and in real need of money. In a flash it came to her: Go over the edge of Niagara Falls in a barrel and reap the rewards that come. Efficient, Annie commissioned the barrel she would travel in, and found folks willing to help her carry out the plan. When the time came, everything went without a hitch and best of all Annie lived to tell the tale. Unfortunately, fame and fortune were not in the cards. Folks weren’t interested in hearing an old woman talk about her death-defying adventure, and on more than one occasion she found her barrel stolen or folks taking credit for her own deed. Ten years later a reporter found her and asked for her story again. Annie confessed that she didn’t become rich like she wanted to, but as she said, “That’s what everyone wonders when they see Niagara . . . How close will their courage let them get to it? Well, sir, you can’t get any closer than I got.” But I have since happened upon a news article regarding one Sadie Allen, who went over the falls in a barrel in December 1886. Annie surely knew this had been done. Sadie Allen and her barrel. I’ve enlarged the original photo using modern AI software. As you can see, she looks very young. NATURAL SETTINGS — The Niagara Falls; magnificent waterfalls which attract many tourists. In English words don’t carry gender, but many things do carry symbolic gender. Waterfalls are generally gendered feminine. The illustrations below may partly explain why; the fall of water is reminiscent of a young woman’s cascading hair. Ida Rentoul Outhwaite The Waterfall Fairy The Enchanted Forest 1921 Ida Rentoul Outhwaite 1888 – 1960 The Waterfall Fairy coloured It’s interesting to note what Van Allsburg left out. What he did not include: That a cat was sent down in a barrel a few days previously, and survived. Kids like cats, cats do well in picture books; why would Chris Van Allsburg leave this interesting detail out?Chris Van Allsburg tells the tale superbly, with his art and his words. Yes, this is a children's book, but one which could be a collectible for the drawings alone (and reinforced binding makes it harder for little hands to tear apart). Annie Edson Taylor did not become famous, because people found it hard to believe a senior citizen (in those days) could survive such a fall. Nevertheless, it was a great feat and she will always be the first of the successful Barrel Riders. A notable exception is Laika, the first dog to be sent into orbit, whose death during the 3 November, 1957 Sputnik 2 mission was expected from its outset. Soviet Space Dogs

The opposition is a natural one; the Falls. There are also human opponents, for example the man who refused to have any part of Annie building a suitable barrel. PLAN Fascinating story. Annie Edson Taylor was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel in 1901 and she lived. The story is rather interesting. Who was Annie? Using Taylor as the heroine of his story, Chris Van Allsburg creates detailed charcoal drawings to complete Annie Taylor's life story, from widowhood to celebrity to forgotten "stunter". She was a charm school teacher who yearned for more and thought she could make money and achieve fame by her famous stunt. The paths of four migrant children from different Central American countries cross as they enter Mexico, and together they continue their journey to the United States.Queen of the Falls is the true story of former charm school teacher, Annie Edson Taylor, who decides that the path to fame and fortune is surviving a trip over Niagra Falls in a barrel. No one expects Annie, a grandmotherly sort, to make it, but her specially-designed barrel does the job and to everyone's amazement, she has only minor injuries after the barrel ride. Annie's plan is to then tour the country speaking about her accomplishment, but no one seems to believe her... She was a elderly woman in her 60s who taught at a Charm School in Bay City MI. Her clients had dried up and she had no retirement, so she was looking for a way to make some money. Eventually, she decided on going over the Falls in a barrel to make money. Isn't that strange. She was an innovative woman at that. She designed and made her own barrel and found a publicist to drum up curiosity. She did tell the world she was in her 40s so when people actually saw her, they didn't believe it was her that went over. But I can understand why she did it. Annie would not have felt invisible at the age of 42. She was running her charm school and had a place in the world. By pretending to the world that she was 42, she was proabably trying to reclaim some of the contentedness she felt at age 42. THE BIG STRUGGLE Annie Edson Taylor was an American schoolteacher who, on her 63rd birthday, October 24, 1901, became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Her motives were financial but she never made much money from her adventure. An estimated 5,000 bodies were found at the foot of the falls between 1850 and 2011. On average, between 20 and 30 people die going over the falls each year. The majority of deaths are suicides—and most take place from the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, and many are not publicized by officials. List of people who have gone over Niagara Falls

There is probably a narrative reason why Chris Van Allsburg did not include the cat. A cat in a picture book is as important as a human character. Readers will be as anxious about the cat as they are about the woman, leading to a double climax in which the first survival inevitably saps emotion away from the second. ANAGNORISIS

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TECHNOLOGY CRUCIAL TO THIS PARTICULAR STORY — Annie’s techinical knowledge was “modest at best” and the best vehicle she could think of was a barrel lined with pillows. Considering that this is a work of nonfiction, it seems odd to say that the book this reminded me of the most was Shaun Tan’s The Arrival. Yet both books take realistic pictures and use their sepia-toned worlds to inform our own. That said, the book that would probably pair better in terms of subject matter would have to be the Julie Cummins title Women Daredevils: Thrills Chills and Frills (in which Annie does indeed make an appearance). I’ve always loved Van Allsburg’s magical realism fantasies, but this new venture into reality itself is so appealing that I can only hope that he continues in this vein for some time. A book that honors its subject and grants her posthumous dignity. The Niagara Falls was used to make people plenty of money, both directly and indirectly. Below is a 1909 advertisement for a boat ride. Another advertisement shows how Niagara was used to sell hydraulic rams.