The Wire Walking Show Must Go On, or, Niagara: it's not just the water

Niagara Falls, Canada - working to avoid a carnival-like atmosphere

Where the water crashes and mist rises at Niagara, a man with a mission has emerged - and his name is Wallenda.
His plan is simple. String a two-inch wide wire across the gaping, breezy Niagara Gorge near Niagara Falls and walk across it.
But he may never have the chance to plunge hundreds of feet to certain death in the churning Niagara River below. That's because Canadian parks officials will have none of it.
They're against the idea of the walk. It'll encourage stunting, they say. Niagara is a natural beauty, not a carnival spectacle, they say. From the Toronto Star:
"The final holdout, however, is on the Canadian side at the Niagara Parks Commission. Its fears the act is a one-time stunt that would return Niagara Falls to its days of flash and showmanship, rather than highlight the falls’ natural beauty."
Hogwash.  Niagara Falls, Canada is already carnival through and through with its casinos, strip clubs, wax museums, bars and tourist traps.

If the site of spinning slot machine reels or bouncing bosoms doesn't take one's eyes off the falls, I don't know what will.

 The Niagara Fallsview Casino.

The falls have always been about danger, risk and thrill. It's a natural spectacle, and a dangerous one! And it looms so large that a wire and a man set in front of it would surely be dwarfed by the huge cataract .
The huge gorge, buffeting winds, sheets of drifting mist and backdrop of the falls will be the feature, with the tiny speck of a tightrope walker registering somewhere in the middle of its splendor.

Man and that backdrop is the crux of the attraction of the falls.

 It is a gigantic and deadly siren that slaps you in the face the way few natural phenomenon do.
"I can kill you!" it shouts when one looks at it. "Step into the water! Go ahead! I'll suck you in and over and to your death!"
Most ignore such a call. But our human race always has a few who answers it - and that's Wallenda.
Why can't we live vicariously in his decision to do the unthinkable and embrace the danger that we all love to approach at Niagara?
If America has apple pie then Niagara has the danger seekers. Plain and simple. It began a long, long time ago and has never really gone dormant. The Native Americans in the area actually built a ladder between the waterfalls that allowed access to the base of the falls. Observe this illustration from 1751.

(Print, courtesy of The History Gallery)

And then there were the numerous professional thrill seekers of the 19th century, a time rife with stunts. Yes, the included tightrope walkers. Heaven forbid a real-life stunt is allowed in the 21st century rather than relying on television for our thrills.  

Henry Bellini makes his leap from tightrope to the water below in 1873. Stereoview (Burns Antiques & Appraisal Collection)

Even regular folks have long been known to push the limits of the falls, creeping a little too close for a photo.

A man peers over a ledge at Niagara. Carte De Visite (Courtesy Thanatos Archive)

Too close for comfort. Late 1860s full-plate ambrotype. (Burns Antiques & Appraisal Collection)

But no, a tightrope walker in this age of natural purity at Niagara Falls would be too much. Never mind that the parks commission sponsors a cable car that is loaded with tourists and pulled out over the gorge on a wire, yes a wire!
"Sometimes frightening and always unforgettable!" the parks says on its site.

But a man on a wire? Blasphemy!

I'd much rather watch Wallenda on the wire for free than pay $12.25 to go out on a wire myself.

Here's to letting the stunt go forward. Opposing it because it somehow turns Niagara into a carnival or place of stunts is a lame argument.vIt has long been that way. As long as mankind enjoys the falls, it will continue to be that way, even if only in our tempted minds.

Incidentally, officials from the U.S. side of the border have largely embraced Wallenda's plans. With no strip clubs, wax museums, overflowing bars, dance clubs, gondolas on wires, super hotels or actual outright year-round carnivals, Niagara Falls, New York needs what it can get. Luckily, you can always see Canada's fireworks from both sides of the Niagara River. And they say our view of the falls is better, too.

Adrian Burns grew up in Youngstown, New York in northern Niagara County. He visits the falls each year from his home in Lancaster, Ohio. He is now an antiques dealer and appraiser, with a special interest in early photography.