Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper

In the fall of 1829, Sam Patch jumped at Niagara Falls as part of off-season entertainment organized by local hotel owners. Patch’s jump was the culmination of a day of spectacles including controlled explosions on the cliffs and a pirate ship being driven off of the falls. The entertainment drew a large crowd of working-class locals, who in turn attracted vendors and a variety of sideshows.

Colonel William Leete Stone, editor and co-owner of the New York Commercial Advertiser, was in Niagara at the time and wrote extensively about the entertainment. He had come to Niagara to experience the natural beauty and sheer scale of the falls. Like many upper-class, well-connected men of his time, Stone valued good taste: He read the best books, saw the most popular plays, followed English fashions, and had impeccable manners. His sense of taste and propriety—learned from his aristocratic family and wealthy peers—distinguished him from everyday Americans. In the 1820s, good taste also included an appreciation of beauty in the natural world, and scenic tourism (travel to see beautiful landscapes) became a popular pastime. The most fashionable spot for scenic tourism was Niagara Falls, which was accessible from New York via a journey on the newly finished Erie Canal.