William “Red” Hill Sr. was 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.
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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 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.
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A portrait of Red Hill Sr |
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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. |
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.
A 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.
Today visitors to Niagara Falls can still see the old scow in place. Rusted and a haven for seagulls, few visitors ever hear about the near tragedy over the falls that day or of the heroic actions of a man that would forever hold the title as “Riverman”.
Red Hill was the father of four sons, Red Hill Jr., Major (given name), Corky and Wesley. One of these sons would also play a role in the history of stunters at Niagara Falls.
During his later years Red Hill sold pictures of himself and displayed his barrel in a local souvenir shop. Red Hill Sr. died in a Niagara Falls, Ontario hospital from effects of the gassing that he sustained during the First World War. He was 54 years old.
