Queen of the Falls

She had visited the Falls as a child and could remember, clearly, the thundering waters and crowds of people drawn to them.

She could remember standing in a park near the Falls, hypnotized by the sight and sound, and holding her father’s hand as they took a walk that would lead them closer.

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.

     At the turn of the nineteenth century, Annie Edson Taylor decided to do something no one in the world had ever done before: she would go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. The sixty-two year old woman would perform one of the greatest feats in American history and this is precisely why they called her the Queen of the Falls.

     Mrs. Taylor, a short, plump, and fussy sixty-two year old widow, finds herself in Bay City, Michigan after her travels around America as a charm schoolteacher, teaching at her very own charm school, right by Niagara Falls.

     But when her charm school starts to fail, Annie needs a plan to keep from becoming penniless; a way to strike it rich and put her money worries behind her for good. After reading about Niagara Falls in a newspaper, she had an epiphany: she’d find fame and fortune in being the first person to ever to go over the thundering waters of Niagara Falls.