Blondin, Charles

Charles (1824-1897), a distinguished French acrobat. He won a reputation as a rope walker in his native France. His most distinguished performances, however, took place during a tour of the United States. June 30, 1859, he crossed the Falls of Niagara on a tight rope. This he did in the presence of a crowd of 25,000 people. On the fourth of the following July he crossed again, blindfolded, trundling a wheelbarrow in front of him, and on the nineteenth of August, he crossed a third time carrying a man on his back. The next year he crossed for the fourth time walking on stilts. It seems incredible that any performer should walk on a slender rope for a distance of several hundred feet, much less keep his balance when crossing a chasm over 300 feet in depth. It would seem that the moving waters below would cause him to lose his head. The slightest tremor or misstep would have sent him to his death. His performances took place, however, in the presence of thousands, including the Prince of Wales, and cannot be disputed. See Niagara; Circus