Sam Patch
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Sam Patch (1799 – 1829), known as The Yankee Leaper, was the first famous US daredevil.
He began working as a child laborer in Pawtucket, Rhode Island in a textile mill. When he was not working, he entertained other boys by jumping off the mill dam. By his mid 20s he was working at a mill in Paterson, New Jersey and was jumping off of ever higher spots. He was beginning to attract crowds for his well advertised stunts. In September 1827 he jumped off the 70 foot Passaic Falls in New Jersey, pleasing a large crowd that had gathered.
By this time he was the darling of the press, and he was looking for bigger things to do. He became famous for his laconic comment, "Some things can be done as well as others."
In October 1829 he wowed the public by jumping the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, becoming the first person known to have survived the plunge.
In early November he was in Rochester, New York, jumping off the 100 foot Upper Falls of the Genesee River with a pet bear. Both survived. Patch tried the stunt again, alone, a week later, on Friday the 13th. When he did not reappear, and no body was found, the crowd assumed there had been a trick. But there was no trick; his body was found along the shore of Lake Ontario in March of 1830.