Stephen Peer (1840-1887) was a
tightrope walker
Tightrope walking, also called funambulism, is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. It has a long tradition in various countries and is commonly associated with the circus. Other skills similar to tightrope walking include slack rope ...
who, though he completed the feat successfully many times, fell to his death while walking a tightrope over
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Fall ...
.
Biography
Peer had decided to become a tight rope walker when he was 19 years old, inspired by
Charles Blondin who had performed the trick over Niagara Falls. Peer had been born and raised in the
Stamford Township and wanted to be the first local resident to successfully cross the falls on a tight rope. Peer became an assistant to
Henry Bellini in 1873, but that ended when Peer attempted to use Bellini's equipment without his permission. Bellini reportedly tried to cut down a tight rope while Peer was standing on it, but the townsfolk ran Bellini out of town. On June 22, 1887, Peer completed a tight rope walk over the Niagara from the present
Whirlpool Bridge and
Penn Central Bridge, and back again. Three days later on June 25, 1887, Peer was reportedly with some friends, and had been drinking, and he fell off a tightrope to his death.
References
Stephen Peer's death
External links
Images from the Historic Niagara Digital Collections
*City of Niagara Falls Museums
"Stephen Peer"
''History Notes'', 2017.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peer, Stephen
Tightrope walkers
1840 births
1887 deaths
Accidental deaths from falls
Accidental deaths in New York (state)
Accidental deaths in Ontario
Niagara Falls