GLYNN: Wallenda will draw huge influx to state park

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February 16, 2012

By Don Glynn Niagara Gazette The Niagara Gazette Thu Feb 16, 2012, 12:11 AM EST

Column by Don Glynn — If all goes well, Nik Wallenda of the famous Flying Wallendas circus family, will follow in the footsteps of Jean Francois Gravelet sometime this summer.

Gravelet, better known as Blondin, walked on a tightrope across the Niagara Gorge that day, June 30, 1859, with some 50,000 spectators every step of the way.

He completed the first high-wire stroll between the U.S. and Canada about 5 p.m., a stunt that was destined to make headlines in both nations as well in the media around the world.

Unlike Wallenda, who is expected to reap a hefty dividend from his contract with the Discovery Channel, Blondin made a pittance for his riveting performance.

George A. Seibel, the late historian for the Niagara Parks Commission in Ontario, that a collection for Blondin was taken at various hotels in Niagara Falls, Ont. — the amount raised not disclosed — and some $300 was contributed by the hoteliers on the U.S. side.

It was generally agreed that with the collections, Blondin would have a moderate surplus after covering all the expenses. In addition, volunteers passing the hat among the spectators raised about $2,000.

A spokesman for Blondin said that was barely enough to pay for the rope that the high-wire artist had strung across the gorge.

Tourism promoters of that era obviously were keenly aware of how to capitalize on Blondin’s spectacular stunts.

Throughout the summer, he carried his manager, Harry Colcord, on his back for one crossing (He reportedly advised his passenger, “Just don’t think of anything including yourself. I’ll be in complete charge every step of the way.”)

Among his other feats to the delight of the crowds along the top of the gorge: Crossing and pushing a wheel barrow, making a night crossing with colored lanterns fastened to the ends of his balancing poll, crossing with baskets on his feet and blindfolded in a sack with only his hands and feet free.

What really captivated his audience, according to Siebel, was carrying a cook stove made of Russian sheet iron, with a skillet, ladle, sundry dishes, and a pair of bellows fastened to the stove.

As the spectators held a collective breath, he set the stove in the center of the rope, lit a fire and when the smoke billowed from the 2-foot high stack, he prepared an omelet. When that was cooked, he cut it into small pieces and lowered it in a dish to the deck of the Maid of the Mist, the sightseeing boat waiting in the lower Niagara River.

William Hunt, a Port Hope, Ont., resident watching one of Blondin’s performances thought spectators were excessive in their praise for the star attraction. Hunt decided right then he would return the following summer to duplicate and perhaps even surpass Blondin’s feats.

Hunt set up a tightrope across the gorge close to the present-day site of the Rainbow Bridge. Adopting the stage name Farini, he spent lavishly to advertise his first walk in the summer of 1861.

That investment paid off. He collected more than $12,000 from admissions, railway and steamboat commissions and donations from hotels owners who reported a sharp increase in their business because of the sharp increase in their overnight business.

Wonder how many downtown hotels here will be willing to contribute toward the Wallenda marketing budget?

As expected in the early 1860s, a rivalry developed between Farini and Blondin.

Immediately after Blondin advertised his coming performance, Farini would counter with his own ads to lure people away from his rival’s stunt. When the crowds heard one day that Blondin was going to repeat the cook stove performance from 1859, they bypassed that event to watch Farini.

Even royalty got in the act. The Prince of Wales, who had been touring Canada, declined when Blondin offered to carry the heir to the throne over the gorge.

After the two-year competition between Blondin and Farini, there was a lull in the tightrope walks until 1865, when Harry Leslie, then called ‘The American Blondin,’ crossed the Whirlpool Rapids gorge on a rope.

Andrew Jenkins, riding a velocipede (an early bicycle) also crossed near Leslie’s route in 1869.

In 1876 Maria Spelterina, the only woman to cross the gorge on a tightrope, performed on a rope strung across the river, upstream from the Railway Suspension Bridge.

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