- William "Red" Hill Sr.
William “Red” Hill Sr. (1888 – May 14th, 1942) was a Canadian daredevil and rescuer, born in
Niagara Falls, Ontario in 1888. In 1896 he received his first medal for bravery when he rescued a young girl from a burning house. By 1912 he had received his second life saving medal and was well ensconced as a local hero. He would receive four medals in all and would be credited with saving 28 people and recovering 177 victims of accidents or suicides from the falls. He is also considered one of the most famous of Canadian daredevils. He made his famous five hour journey down the Niagara lower rapids on May 30, 1930. He would use a six foot long steel barrel to make his journey from the Maid of the Mist landing to Queenston.Niagara daredevil
From a very early age Red had been obsessed with the river and falls. As a young boy and much to his mothers’ dismay the young Red would skip school and spend his entire day along the banks of the Niagara, studying how the river flowed.
He would toss sticks, cans, rubber tubing, anything that would float over the falls, and carefully note where it would reappear in the rapids below.
At the time it seemed nothing more than a childish prank, but this education along the banks of the Mighty Niagara that Red Hill Sr. received would prove to bring him much notoriety later in his life.
When
Bobby Leach took a trip in 1910 and survived, Red Hill Sr. was there to retrieve the barrel and extradite Mr. Leach from it. He then promptly entered the barrel and continued to shoot the rapids.For his second trip in 1930 through the rapids he chose a barrel of steel construction, six feet long and three feet in diameter. The opening was a fourteen by eighteen inch manhole, covered by sliding steel and sealed with rubber gaskets. There were airholes on each side, which were plugged with cork and could be removed.
Over 25,000 people would watch Hill conquer the mighty Niagara rapids that fateful day. He got to a slow start as the barrel bobbed and bucked in the river for an hour and forty minutes before it got to the lower rapids. In less then 90 seconds he had entered into the Whirlpool. The currents were extremely strong in the Whirlpool and he became trapped in them spinning around violently for over three hours. At one point he had opened the steel hatch and tried to paddle against the current to free himself, but to no avail. Several men, including his son Red Hill Jr., tried to free him, and after three hours in the Whirlpool he finally made the final leg of his journey below the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and onto Queenston. Hill would emerge a triumphant man with only minor cuts and bruises.
The barrel weighed over 600 lbs and was painted red with gold lettering that said “William Red Hill, Master Hero of Niagara” inscribed on both sides. In the early part of the century thousands of tourists would venture out onto the ice bridge that forms in the pool at the base of the falls during extremely cold winters.
Ice bridge collapse
On February 4, 1912 while operating a small shanty that served hot beverages and snacks on the frozen river to tourists that were visiting the "Ice bridge", he heard the ice below him tremble and he immediately sensed disaster.
He realized the ice was breaking up below and he frantically tried to wave the spectators to safety on the Canadian side. Realizing that four people were still on the ice, Red Hill Sr. returned and managed to pull one person, a young boy to safety.
Three others were not so lucky and despite frantic efforts to drop ropes from the bridges the three terrified people were swept to their deaths, their bodies never recovered. Had it not been for the quick actions of Red Hill Sr. that day the tragedy could have been much worse.
In the first World War Red Hill saw action in France, was awarded two more medals for bravery and returned to Canada in 1918. That was the year that saw Red Hill perform one of his most outstanding feats of bravery.cite web | url = http://reservationsystems.com/niagara_daredevils/red_hill_sr.html | title = Niagara Daredevils | publisher = http://reservationsystems.com/niagara_daredevils/index_new.html | accessdate = July 14 | accessyear = 2008]
The Niagara Scow
On August 6th 1918, The
Niagara Scow carrying two men broke its line and the swift current in the upper river brought the scow within 300 yards of the brink of the falls. The two quick thinking men opened two latches on the bottom of the scow and grounded it on the jagged rocks. Darkness was approaching when the United States Coastguard mounted their gun on the roof of the Toronto Power House and shot a rope to the scow.A breeches buoy was then sent out but became tangled and snarled. Red Hill Sr. volunteered to try to reach the men. Using the rope Red Hill Sr. set out at 3 a.m. with spotlights glaring to light his path. A wrong move on his part would bring almost certain death. Hand over hand Red Hill struggled against the fierce current to reach his destination, however hindered by darkness Hill was not able to untangle the ropes.
The rescue was called off until the light of day. By 8 a.m. Red Hill was again attempting to free the ropes, this time being successful. By 9:30 a.m. the men were being safely rescued to the shore.
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