“The Blondin Niagara Feat,” read The Post’s headline about French daredevil Jean Francois Gravelot.
“The Great Blondin crossed the Niagara River on a tightrope, without exhibiting the slightest fear or experiencing the slightest damage . . . in the presence of a crowd variously estimated at from 5,000 to 10,000 persons.”
Blondin repeated his feat several times in 1859 and 1860, carrying his manager on his back one time and pushing a wheelbarrow another.