The Electrifying Fall of Rainbow City

by Margaret Creighton

  13. Suspicions, proportions, explanations: Express, Oct. 21, 1901; Niagara Falls Gazette, Oct. 11, 1901. Taylor’s age: Whalen, The Lady Who Conquered Niagara, 2.

  14. Impatience: Whalen, Lady Who Conquered, 58; Express, Oct. 21, 1901. Interviews: Whalen, Lady Who Conquered, 59–61. October 23 attempt: Courier, Oct. 24, 1901; Niagara Falls Gazette, Oct. 23, 1901; Express, Oct. 25, 1901; [Niagara Falls] Daily Cataract-Journal, Oct. 24, 25, 1901;Whalen, Lady Who Conquered, 65–68.

  15. Annie Taylor goes over the falls: Daily Cataract-Journal, Oct. 23, 24, 25, 1901;Dunlap, “Interview,”Oct. 25, 1901; Express, Oct. 25, 1901; Niagara Falls Review, Oct. 26, 1901; Orrin E. Dunlap, Sr., “Plunging over Niagara Falls in a Barrel,”typed recollection, 1920s, in Stunts and Stunters file, Niagara Falls Public Library; News, Oct. 25, 1901; Fort Worth Register, Oct. 28, 1901; Annie Edson Taylor, Over the Falls: Annie Edson Taylor’s Story of Her Life (privately printed, 1902), 17; Whalen, Lady Who Conquered, 74–87.

  CHAPTER 9: THE ESCAPE OF THE DOLL LADY

  1. Recovery; recollection; barrel: Daily Cataract-Journal, Oct. 25, 1901. Brain fever: Niagara Falls Gazette, Oct. 26, 1901.

  2. Sales pitches: Com, Oct. 28, 1901; Courier, Oct. 27, 1901; Express, Oct. 27, 28, 1901. Midway mayor: Express, Oct. 26, Nov. 1, 1901. Chiquita: Com, Oct. 26, 1901. Shaking hands: Courier, Aug. 4, 1901.

  3. Gifts: Com, Oct. 28, 29, 1901; Express, Oct. 30, 1901; News, Oct. 28, 1901. Hearsay: Courier, Oct. 26, 1901; Express, Oct. 29, 1901. Farewell Day: News, Oct. 27, 1901; Com, Oct. 30, 1901.

  4. The poor and the Exposition: Express, Oct. 27, 1901; News, Oct. 24, 29, 1901. Farewell Day sham battle: Com, Oct. 28, 29, 30, 1901; Express, Oct. 29, 1901; Courier, Oct. 27, 1901. On Indian community, see, for example, Com, July 13, Sept. 9, 1901; Express, July 17, 25, 1901.On Indian resistance at other fairs, see Josh Clough, “‘Vanishing Indians?’ Cultural Persistence on Display at the Omaha World’s Fair of 1898,” Great Plains Quarterly 25 (April 2005): 67–86, http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3472&context=greatplainsquarterly; Nancy Egan, “Exhibiting Indigenous Peoples: Bolivians and the Chicago Fair of 1893,” Studies in Latin American Popular Culture 28 (January 2010): 15–18. Other events, including Taylor: Express, Oct. 28, 29, Nov. 1, 1901; Courier, Oct. 27, 1901.

  5. Assassination sites: Courier, Oct. 28, 1901. Czolgosz’s death: Charles R. Skinner, “Story of McKinley’s Assassination,” State Service 3 (Apr. 1919): 20–24, accessed at http://mckinleydeath.com/documents/magazines/SService3-4.htm; New York Times, Oct. 25, 1901; Carlos F. MacDonald, “The Execution of Czolgosz,” Medical News 79 (Nov. 1901): 752–53, accessed at http://mckinleydeath.com/documents/journals/MN79-19a.htm; Auburn Weekly Bulletin, Nov. 1, 1901; “How Czolgosz Will Meet His Death,” Black and White Budget 6 (Oct. 1901): 138–39, accessed at http://mckinleydeath.com/documents/magazines/BWB6-107a.htm; Com, Oct. 29, 1901; St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 29, 1901.

  6. Electricity fears: Jürgen Martschukat, “‘The Art of Killing by Electricity’: The Sublime and the Electric Chair,” Journal of American History 89 (December 2002): 911; Express, Oct. 28, 1901. Current wars: Jill Jonnes, Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World (New York: Random House, 2004), 148–50, 201, 207;Gilbert King, “Edison vs. Westinghouse: A Shocking Rivalry,”Smithsonian.com, Oct. 11, 2011, accessed at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/edison-vs-westinghouse-a-shocking-rivalry-102146036/?no-ist; Martschukat, “The Art of Killing,”900, 915. Kemmler’s death: Martschukat, “The Art of Killing,” 917–18;Jonnes, Empires of Light, 188–89.

  7. Packing up: Express, Nov. 1, 1901. Escape, marriage, capture: Erie Daily Times, Nov. 2, 1901; Express, Nov. 9, 1901;Bostock v. Woeckener, Testimony of Thomas Rochford; Courier, Nov. 2, 1901; Kalamazoo Gazette, Nov. 13, 1908. Beating: Boston Daily Globe, Jan. 4, 1902;Bostock v. Woeckener, Testimony of Mrs. C. W. Page.

  8. Weather, good-byes: Express, Oct. 29, Nov. 2, 3, 1901; Com, Nov. 2, 1901; Courier, Nov. 2, 1901.

  9. The Exposition as civilizer: Courier, Oct. 14, 1901; Express, Oct. 3, 29, 1901. Mixed feelings, resistance: See Nancy Egan, “Exhibiting Indigenous Peoples,”17. Laughing Ben: Macon Telegraph, Sept. 2, Nov. 11, 1901. Filipino resistance: Courier, Sept. 28, 1901. Performer illness, deaths: Rydell, All the World’s a Fair, 150; Express, April 24, May 12, June 9, July 14, July 19, Nov. 10, 1901; Com, May 13, Sept. 9, 1901; Courier, Aug. 9, 25, Oct. 22, 1901.

  10. Mabel visits for final time: Barnes, “Peeps,”Vol. III, pp. 195–99; News, Oct. 24, Oct. 27, 1901; Express, Nov. 2, 1901. Carrie Nation: New York Times, Sept. 9, 1901; Express, Nov. 2, 1901.

  11. Annie Taylor at the Exposition: Com, Nov. 2, 1901; Courier, Nov. 3, 1901. Compliments and criticism: Express, Oct. 27, 1901; Com, Oct. 28, 1901; Bay City Tribune, Oct. 27, 1901; Bay City Times-Press, Nov. 5, 1901.

  12. Mabel’s last night: Barnes, “Peeps,” Vol. III, pp. 197–99; Express, Nov. 3, 1901. Scavengers, fireworks: Express, Nov. 3, 1901.

  13. Temple of Music and lights out: Express, Nov. 3, 1901; Com, Nov. 2, 1901. Destruction: Express, Nov. 3, 1901; Courier, Nov. 3, 1901.

  14. Bostock in charge: Kalamazoo Gazette, Nov. 13, 1908. Bostock spins the story: Erie [PA] Morning Dispatch, Nov. 5, 6, 11, 1901; Express, Nov. 3, 1901.

  CHAPTER 10: THE ELEPHANT

  1. Chiquita and courage: Kalamazoo Gazette, Nov. 13, 1903. Bostock in court: Express, Nov. 9, 1901, Jan. 4, 1902; Com, Nov. 8, 1901; News, Nov. 8, 9, 1901; Erie [PA] Express, Nov. 9, 1901.

  2. Maitland’s announcement: Enq, Nov. 7, 1901. Henry Mullen, Tina Caswell: Courier, Nov. 1, 7, 1901; Wilkes-Barre Times, Oct. 31, 1901; Enq, Nov. 7, 1901; Express, Nov. 7, 1901.

  3. Jumbo’s antics: Com, July 29, 1901; Courier, July 24, 1901. New, evil Jumbo: Newark [Ohio] Advocate, Nov. 9, 1901; Courier, Nov. 7, 8, 1901; Express, Nov. 9, 1901; Enq, Nov. 8, 1901.

  4. Rajah and Trilby: New York Times, April 13, 1901; Com, Oct. 12, 17, 1901; Express, Oct. 12, 17, 20, 1901. Elephant deaths: Courier, Nov. 7, 8, 1901; Com, Nov. 8, 1901; The [Fredericksburg, VA] Free Lance, June 12, 1900. Electrocution: Enq, Nov. 7, 1901; Courier, Nov. 7, 8, 1901. Jumbo advertisement: Courier, Nov. 9, 1901; Express, Nov. 9, 1901; Enq, Nov. 8, 1901.

  5. Regrets: Courier, Nov. 10, 1901; Enq, Nov. 7, 1901. Old Bet: G. G. Goodwin, “The First Living Elephant in America,” Journal of Mammalogy 6 (November 1925):257–61, plate 24. See also http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/editors_pick/1928_05-06_pick.html?page=2. Original Jumbo: New York Times, Sept. 17, 1885;Susan Wilson, “An Elephant’s Tale: An Unadulterated and Relatively True Story Chronicling the Life, Death and Afterlife of Jumbo, Tufts’ Illustrious Mascot,” Tufts online Magazine 9 (Spring 2002), accessed at http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/spring2002/jumbo.html. Bostock’s elephant shows: Com, July 23, 1901;Aug. 3, 29, 1901; Com, Sept. 16, 1901.

  6. The Woeckener home: Erie Morning Dispatch, Nov. 4, 6, 1901. Tony’s desperation: Erie Morning Dispatch, Nov. 6, 1901; Express, Nov. 9, 1901;Jan. 5, 1902.

  7. Crowds arrive: Courier, Nov. 10, 1901; News, Nov. 3, 1901. Electricity details: Express, Nov. 9, 1901; Courier, Nov. 9, 1901. Protests: Express, Nov. 9, 1901.

  8. Mary Lord, Henry Bergh, mules: Margaret F. Rochester, Lest We Forget: Historical Sketch of the Erie County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Buffalo: privately printed, 1916); Buffalo Evening News, Sept. 15, 1965. Mary Lord, Millard Fillmore: George J. Bryan, Biographies of Attorney-General George P. Barker, John C. Lord, D.D., Mrs. John C. Lord, and William G. Bryan, Esq. (Buffalo: The Courier Company, 1886), 150–54; Buffalo Evening News Magazine, June 8, 1968; Frank Severance, ed., Publications of the Buffalo Historical Society XI (New York: Buffalo Historical Society, 1907); Buffalo Historical Society: Annual Report of the Board of Managers for the Year 1898 (Buffalo: Baker, Jones & Co., printers, 1899), 75.

  9. Humane Society at the Exposition: Annual Report: Erie County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Buffalo: Turner & Porter Printers, 1901),8–10, 20, 30–33; News, May 29, 1901; Com, May 6, 1901; C
ourier, Nov. 6, 1901.

  10. Social control and animal rescue: See Kathleen Kete, ed., A Cultural History of Animals in the Age of Empire (Oxford: Berg, 2007), 2–4. Bostock cruelty charges, England: Manchester Weekly Times, Aug. 29, 1890; North-Eastern Daily Gazette, March 17, Nov. 4, 1891; York Herald, March 4, 1891; Coventry Evening Telegraph, April 7, 1892.

  11. The attempted killing: Express, Nov. 10, 1901; Courier, Nov. 10, 1901; Charlotte Daily Observer, Nov. 12, 1901. Bostock’s new plans: Courier, Nov. 10, 1901. Jumbo II in Boston: Boston Daily Globe, Nov. 29, 1901.

  12. Where is Chiquita?: Erie Morning Dispatch, Nov. 18, 1901. Boston court battle: Erie Morning Dispatch, Dec. 14, 1901; Jan. 4, 8, 10, 1902; September 16, 1902;Bostock v. Espiridiona Alice Cenda Woeckener, Equity Case No. 27, November Term, 1902, Circuit Court of the United States for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Archives.

  13. Contract: Erie Morning Dispatch, Sept. 16, 1902;Bostock v. Woeckener. Bostock’s offer: Times Jan. 16, 1902; Erie Morning Dispatch, Jan. 11, 1902. Chiquita goes to Glasgow: Times, Jan. 16, 1902; Glasgow Daily Record & Daily Mail, Jan. 23, 1902. Tony relents: Erie Morning Dispatch, Feb. 24, March 3, 1902.

  14. Bostock insurance: Erie Morning Dispatch, March 31, 1902; Boston Daily Globe, March 27, 1902. Under the rule of the Badgers: Bostock v. Woeckener; Erie Morning Dispatch, Aug. 28, 1902; Rome Daily Sentinel, Aug. 29, 1902.

  15. Escape from Elgin: Erie Morning Dispatch, Aug. 28, 1902. Chiquita in Erie: Erie Morning Dispatch, Aug. 28, 29, 1902. Bostock plots, sues: [Batavia, NY] Daily News, Sept. 14, 1904; Bostock v Woeckener, Exhibit “C”;Al Stencell, “Frank Bostock in America,” in National Fairground Archive, Sheffield University, accessed August 13, 2014, at http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/jungle/index1a1.html; Erie Morning Dispatch, Sept. 16, 1902; Elgin [IL] Daily Courier, Aug. 27, 28, 1902. Testimonies: Bostock v. Woeckener. Case closed, Chiquita advertised: Erie Morning Dispatch, Jan. 5, 17, 1903;Bostock v. Woeckener.

  CHAPTER 11: THE TIMEKEEPERS

  1. Jumbo II tours, arrives in Cleveland: Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 24, 25, 1902. Jumbo at Manhattan Beach: Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 24, 25, 26, 29, July 3, Aug. 30, 1902. Left with Cleveland sheriff: Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 4, 14, Nov. 16, 1902. Bostock takes charge again: Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 16, 1902; Charlotte Daily Observer, Nov. 17, 1902. Jumbo II dies: Cleveland Plain Dealer, Nov. 16, 18, 1902.

  2. Bostock, Blondin, Bonavita: Cambridge [MA] Tribune, Sept. 12, 1908; New-York Tribune, March 21, 1917; New York Times, Oct. 9, 1912. Bostock’s death, funeral, tributes: New York Times, Oct. 9, 1912; Al Stencell, “Frank Bostock in America,” The World’s Fair, Oct. 12, 19, 1912, accessed March 22, 2015, at http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/jungle/index1a4.html.

  3. Topsy: New York Herald, Jan. 5, 1903; New York Press, Jan. 5, 1903. Roosevelt: Theodore Roosevelt, African Game Trails: An Account of the African Wanderings of an American Hunter-Naturalist (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910), 2, 9, 29, 283–84; 290–92; on hunting and imperialism, see also Joseph Sramek, “‘Face Him Like a Briton’: Tiger Hunting, Imperialism, and British Masculinity in Colonial India, 1800–1875,” Victorian Studies 48 (June 2006): 659–80. Retiring the herd: See http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150305-ringling-brosretires-asian-elephants-barnum-bailey/.

  4. Chiquita and Tony’s plans, pregnancy: Erie Morning Dispatch, Jan. 5, 1903; [Batavia, NY] Daily News, Oct. 12, 1903; [Syracuse NY] Evening Telegram, Oct. 18, 1903. Later tours: Express, Aug. 29, 1907; Courier, July 3, 1910; Billboard, July 28, 1906. Chiquita’s death: News, April 17, 1928.

  5. On “midget” circuses: Robert W. Rydell, John E. Findling, Kimberly D. Pelle, Fair America: World’s Fairs in the United States (Washington: Smithsonian Books, 2000), 82–90. Little People, rights and respect:Robert Bogdan, Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), 30–31, 64–66;Rosemarie Garland Thomson, Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Physical Disability in American Culture and Literature (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), 22, 74–75, 78–80.

  6. Attendance figures: Isabel Vaughan James lists the final Pan-American admission figure as 8,120,048, with 5,306,859 as paid admissions. See Vaughan James, The Pan-American Exposition, 13; Courier, Nov. 2, 1901. Charleston: Anthony Chibbaro, The Charleston Exposition (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2001), 7–8, 56, 65, 76–77.

  7. Taylor exhaustion, age challenges: Bay City Tribune, Oct. 30, Nov. 8, 9, 10, 1901;Whalen, The Lady Who Conquered, 117–22, 133; Niagara Falls Gazette, March 31, 1902.

  8. Sanatorium, tours, struggles: Bay City Times-Press, Nov. 15, 1901; Whalen, The Lady Who Conquered, 120–25, 128–30, 132; Bay City Tribune, Feb. 14, 1902. Stolen barrel, despair: Whalen, The Lady Who Conquered, 134–35, 140–42;Annie Taylor to Frank Tanner, March 26, 1902, in the Niagara Falls Gazette, March 31, 1902. The play, with “the original barrel,” was advertised periodically from August 1902 to at least 1906. See the New York Clipper, Aug. 30, 1902 and The [Rock Island, IL] Argus, March 5, 1906.

  9. Barrel recovery, new manager: Bay City Times-Press, Aug. 20, 1902; Whalen, The Lady Who Conquered, 150–53; Trenton Evening Times, Oct. 9, 1902. Barrel stolen again: Trenton Evening Times, Oct. 9, 1902; Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 10, 1902;Sept. 17, 1903; Grand Forks Daily Herald, Aug. 30, 1903;Whalen,150–53. Taylor in later life: Niagara Falls Gazette, July 31, 1903; Niagara Falls Journal, July 26, 1911; Nov. 30, 1914; Whalen, 158–59, 160–64. Almshouse: Niagara Falls Gazette, March 4, 7, 1921; Lockport Union-Sun and Journal, April 30, 1921;Whalen,166–69; 172–73, 176.

  10. Resenting Taylor’s feat: Charlotte Daily Observer, Sept. 20, 1902.

  11. Charleston exposition: Chibbaro, Charleston Exposition, 56;Sara S. Cromwell, “Fair Treatment? African-American Presence at International Expositions in the South, 1884–1902” (MA thesis, Wake Forest University, 2010), 127–35. Ben Ellington: Macon Telegraph, Nov. 11, Sept. 12, 1901; Atlanta Constitution, April 30, 1905.

  12. Parker lectures: Washington Post, Dec. 22, 1901; The Colored American, Nov. 30, 1901; Cleveland Gazette, March 23,1907. Parker tours; Hanna; Ida McKinley: Washington Post, Dec. 22, 1901; Topeka Plaindealer, Jan. 3, 1902; The Freeman, Jan. 4, 1902; April 25, 1903; The Worcester Spy, Sept. 17, 1902; Brooklyn Eagle, Aug. 20, 1902; The Colored American, Nov. 30, 1901;March 28, 1903; New-York Tribune, March 23, 1907; New York Times, March 24, 1907;James B. Parker to Ida McKinley, in Anthony, Ida McKinley, ebook location 6053–6057; 6080. Parker hospitalized, dies: Washington Post, March 27, 1908; Broad Axe, April 11, 1908; Cleveland Gazette, April 11, 1908.

  13. Mary Talbert and the Niagara Movement: Peggy Brooks-Bertram and Barbara Seals Nevergold, Uncrowned Queens: African American Women Community Builders (Buffalo: Uncrowned Queens Publishing, 2005), 164–81. Du Bois: Brooks-Bertram and Nevergold, Uncrowned Queens, vii.

  14. The Goddess of Light falls: News, July 2, 1902; Courier, July 13, 1902; Com, July 1, 2, 1902; Express, July 2, 1902. The fair goes down: Courier, July 13, 1902; Express, June 14, 1903; Express, Jan. 5, 1902. Can’t it be saved? Express, Oct. 21, 27, Nov. 17, 1901; Courier, Oct. 2, 1901; News, Oct. 21, 1901.

  15. The balance sheet: Buchanan, Pan American Exposition Report, p. 8; Com, June 24, 1902. Blaming the assassination: Courier, Oct. 29, 1901; News, Dec. 1, 1901. Blaming other circumstances: Express, July 5, 1902; Com, July 8, 1901; Express, Nov. 2, 1901; Buchanan, Pan American Exposition Report, p. 6; Com, Nov. 2, 1901.

  16. John Milburn is proud: Courier, Oct. 26, 1901. Pan Americanism accomplished: Courier, Nov. 2, 1901. The eyes of the world: Com, Nov. 2, 1901; Courier, Oct. 26, Nov. 2, 1901. Washington, New York help out: New York Times, July 1, 1902.

  17. Structures’ second life: Express, Aug. 8, 1902; Courier, Aug. 11, 1901. While the Courier announced in August 1902 that the “McKinley” flooring was going to Washington to the National History Museum, the Buffalo News announced on September 14, 1902, that plans had changed. New York State Building: http://www.preservationbuffaloniagara.org/buildi
ngs-and-sites/buildings-catalog/location:buffalo-historical-society/. Mabel Barnes: Buffalo Courier-Gazette, Jan. 24, 1946, and http://www.buffalolib.org/sites/default/files/pdf/genealogy/subject-guides/Births%20Deaths%20and%20Marriages%20Found%20in%20Local%20Publications.pdf.

  18. Buchanan: “William I. Buchanan, Pan-American Diplomat,” Bulletin of the International Union of the American Republics 29 (October–December 1909): 835–37;Harold F. Peterson, Diplomat of the Americas: A Biography of William I. Buchanan, 1852–1909 (Albany: SUNY Press, 1977). Milburn house: Annual Report of the Board of Police of the City of Buffalo (Buffalo: Wenborne-Sumner Co., 1902), 18; Courier, Oct. 21, 1901. Milburn subsequent life and death: New York Times, Aug. 12, 1930; Susan Eck, “The Milburns and their Famous Home: 1168 Delaware Avenue,” http://wnyheritagepress.org/photos_week_2009/mckinley_marker/milburn_house/milburn_house.htm. Diehl: News, March 13, 1902; Express, Feb. 21, 1918; Times, Feb. 15, 1919.

  19. Roosevelt on conservation: Jeffrey Salmon, “‘With Utter Disregard of Pain and Woe,’: Theodore Roosevelt on Conservation and Nature,”in Charles T. Rubin, ed., Conservation Reconsidered: Nature, Virtue, and American Liberal Democracy (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000), 49. Roosevelt shot: Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Modern Library, 2001), p. xxxi; Patricia O’Toole, “Assassination Foiled,”Smithsonian 43 (Nov. 2012), accessed on May 26, 2015 at http://web.b.ebscohost.com.lprx.bates.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=b2086474-c6f7-4c71-8f7e-5b650711eaa1%40sessionmgr114&vid=7&hid=124&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=83097307), and Rauchway, Murdering McKinley, 197. Roosevelt’s speech: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-famous-populist-speech-teddy-roosevelt-gave-right-after-getting-shot-2011-10#ixzz3dWyP6oRl. Goldman: “Radical Comment on the President’s Assassination,” Literary Digest 21 (Sept. 1901): 336–37.