Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper by Paul Johnson
Posted on 04/04/2016 2:42:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Sam Patch is one of those local legends that's just there, part of our early childhood storytelling world, like Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed... A couple of months ago, we heard a talk about Sam at the neighborhood library branch, setting the stories in historical reality. The circus-like character with the swashbuckling costume and the pet bear and the showy leaps, the character he presented on posters to advertise his famous jumps over waterfalls, was only the performance persona...
He began jumping over waterfalls as part of a community of daredevil workers, young men showing off and letting off steam. They jumped as a sort of braggadocio, as a way of asserting themselves and winning applause, as an act of adventure and danger in a restricted life. But there was another element, too, which Sam soon tapped into. The public access to common land was being set against the increasing enclosures and privatization of land by the mill owners and the wealthy. Sam jumped waterfalls as a way of thumbing his nose, drawing attention to this "unauthorized" use of the public space. Sam's jumps, first in Pawtucket and then in Paterson, New Jersey, became public entertainment that drew the attention and the applause away from the officially-approved social doings arranged by the community leaders.
Sam's transition to public celebrity was a strange one for that period. Today, we are so accustomed to people who are famous simply for being famous that such celebrity is taken for granted. Sam Patch was one of America's first celebrity daredevils, the 1820's equivalent of Harry Houdini or Evel Knievel. His stardom shot unexpectedly across the media world of his day with his jumps at Niagara Falls.
(Excerpt) Read more at mariasbooks.wordpress.com ...
Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper by Paul Johnson
A daredevil’s life story lluminates a changing world
Diving into history
June 29, 2003
reviewed by Elliott J. Gorn. Elliott J. Gorn teaches history at Brown University
Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper
By Paul E. Johnson
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2003-06-29/entertainment/0306280004_1_sam-patch-mr-patch-stories
The Raging Genesee River from High Falls - Sam Patch Jump Area - Genesee Brew House - April 2015
Sam Patch - Rochester Wiki
http://rocwiki.org/Sam_Patch
http://rocwiki.org/restfile/Sam_Patch/sendfile/sampatchclip.jpg
http://rocwiki.org/restfile/Sam_Patch/sendfile/sampatchad.jpg
His luck ran out after only a few jumps. He’s buried in my hometown.
The Grave of Daredevil 'Sam Patch' - Rochester, NY
Itinerant pole-jumpers and other tall-grass acts were a welcome addition to the entertainment options as recently as a century ago, or more if one includes such sideshow acts as those guys who ride motorcycles around inside a big cylinder (quite something to see when one is a kid).
Niagara Falls
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Patch#Niagara_Falls
In the fall of 1829, Patch gained fame by leaping into the Niagara River near the base of Niagara Falls. Patch was the star attraction at an event designed to draw visitors to the falls. A 125-foot ladder was extended over the river below Goat Island opposite the Cave of the Winds. Less than an hour before the scheduled noon jump, a chain securing the ladder to the cliff wall snapped, breaking 15 feet from the ladder. Rescheduled for 4 PM, Patch jumped on time. A boat circled near the entry point, but Patch did not appear. When he was finally spotted on the shore, a great roar went up from the crowd.
Bad weather and the delay in his arrival drew a disappointingly small crowd for this jump, so Patch announced he would repeat the feat a second time October 17. A few days later, 10,000 gathered to watch him keep his word.
Following his feat at Niagara falls, Sam Patch achieved nationwide fame. His name became a household word and his slogan “some things can be done as well as others” became a popular slang expression across the nation.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/405042560213720542/
[snip] Sam Patch was the Evil Knievel of the 1800s. He died on Friday the 13th of November 1829 making a 99 foot jump into the Genesee River. [snip]
Cue Van Halen:
Might as well jump.
;’)
And they fished him out of the Genesee in the spring after his tragic leap.
Uh, it’s called a reply, and was done in reply to your reply to me.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3417471/posts?page=6#6
So they lost him for the winter...
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