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The Infamous Black Bird Southern Oregon History, Revised


Leoni, the "King of the Air"

Tight Rope Walker John Devier in Austin, Texas 1867
Tight rope walker John Devier in Austin, Texas 1867


    TIGHT ROPE PERFORMANCE.--Daniel DeHoune performed some of his wonderful trucks last evening, on a rope stretched from the U.S. Hotel to Pat Ryan's store. The feats of strength are really worth seeing. DeHoune is going to walk a rope stretched across the Willamette River, at Portland, on the 2nd of October next. The river is three-fourths of a mile wide at that place.

Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, August 22, 1868, page 2


12:30 o'clock. Mons. Leoni will give a tight-rope performance on Main Street. Mons. Leoni has no equal save Blondin as a tight rope and trapeze performer.
6:30 p.m. Mons. Leoni and several noted amateurs will give performances on the trapeze and tight-rope.
8:30 p.m., a grand pyrotechnic display under the supervision of Mons. Leoni and Prof. Pettit, when the monster illuminated balloon, the "Silver City," will be loosed from her moorings under the directions of an experienced aeronaut.
"Order of Exercises," The Daily Miner, Butte, Montana, July 3, 1881, page 2



    The bills recently printed in the Times office for Leoni, King of the Air, are pronounced by competent judges to be the neatest of the kind ever printed north of Snake River.
"From Monday's Daily," Spokan Times, Spokane, Washington, September 20, 1881, page 3



    Leoni walked across the Spokan River, near Post's Mill, Sunday evening, on a rope, in the presence of about 250 persons. The wind was blowing fresh and cold, but Leoni performed his task manfully. He was prevented from performing the trapeze by friends who thought the weather too chilly for the performances.
"To-Day's News," Spokan Times, Spokane, Washington, September 27, 1881, page 3


    A BILK--Leoni, King of the Air, and champion bilk, stole away from this city yesterday, leaving numerous creditors to mourn his untimely departure. This acrobat, tight-rope walker and dead beat should be remembered wherever he may impose his presence upon an unsuspecting public. Pass him around.
"From Thursday's Daily," Spokan Times, Spokane, Washington, October 4, 1881, page 3


    Leoni is in Walla Walla.
"Local Intelligence," Spokan Times, Spokane, Washington, October 11, 1881, page 3


    TIGHT ROPE WALKING.--Leoni, King of the Air, walked the tight-rope at the Park Hotel yesterday with great ease. The rope had a span of about 90 feet and was stretched between two trees, about 60 feet above the ground. While on the rope he performed many feats with a daring which showed his complete command of himself. After the walking Leoni sent people's hearts jumping into their mouths by his gymnastic tricks on the trapeze. He is really a wonderful performer.

Daily British Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, November 10, 1882, page 5



    Leoni, the tight rope walker, gave some exhibitions of his skill on a rope stretched between the U.S. Hotel and the Sentinel office Saturday afternoon. A large crowd witnessed the feats, which were very good. He will perform here again tomorrow and Sunday.
"Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, November 23, 1883, page 3


    TIGHT ROPE WALKING.--Leoni, "King of the Air," has arrived and will give one of his daring performances on the high tight rope at three o'clock this afternoon from the tops of the two highest buildings in Jacksonville. The rope has been stretched from the Sentinel office to the U.S. Hotel, where the performance will take place.

Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, November 17, 1883, page 3


    Leoni, the tight rope walker, gave some exhibitions of his skill on a rope stretched between the U.S. Hotel and the Sentinel office. A large crowd witnessed the feats, which were very good. He will perform here again tomorrow and Sunday.

"Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, November 23, 1883, page 3


    FINE EXHIBITION.--Leoni, the King of the Air, entertained a large audience here last Saturday afternoon, giving exhibitions in walking a tight rope stretched from the top of the U.S. Hotel to the Sentinel office, showing himself to be an artist in that line and on the trapeze. His performances are wonderful to behold and exciting in the extreme. He will give another exhibition here this afternoon at three o'clock and also tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, November 24, 1883, page 3


    A tight rope walker styling himself "Leoni," who has been performing in this valley lately, has skipped, it seems. He is a good deal of a bilk, as he never pays his honest debts if he can avoid doing so. Look out for him.
"Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, December 7, 1883, page 3


    Leoni is going north, bilking the people as he goes.

"Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, December 14, 1883, page 3


    Leoni, the tight rope walker who recently appeared in this place, has been declared a vagrant by the authorities of Seattle. He was first arrested for striking a woman of his own kind, but she refused to prosecute him.
"Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, March 14, 1884, page 3


    Ocean Beach--Leoni, King of the Air, Sunday.
"The City," Daily Alta California, San Francisco, November 23, 1884, page 8



    Ocean Beach--Leoni in his perilous acts, Saturday and Sunday.
"The City," Daily Alta California, San Francisco, November 30, 1884, page 8


FALL FROM A TIGHT-ROPE
Leoni, the King of the Air, Drops Thirty-Five Feet.
Unfortunate Ending of a Tight-Rope Performance in Stockton this Afternoon.

    A traveling rope-walker, advertised under the name of Leoni, fell from the wire cable on which he was performing this afternoon on El Dorado Street, and received fatal injuries. He had stretched the wire across El Dorado Street from the top of the Board of Trade rooms to the roof of the old Stockton Theater at the height of about thirty-five feet. The cable was attached to a block and tackle and everything appeared to be secure. He passed backwards and forwards over the rope in safety this forenoon, and won great applause from the assembled crowd for his grace and dexterity. He announced that he would repeat the performance at half past 1 o'clock this afternoon, and at that hour there was a crowd of about 800 people in the vicinity.
A FEW ILL-OMENED WORDS.
    The daring funambulist was greeted with enthusiastic hand-clapping and applause as he made his appearance on the Board of Trade building. Before he started he made a short speech to the men holding the guy ropes in the street below, "Boys," said he, "don't forget to hold on to the ropes. No matter whether I tumble or not, don't let go of the ropes."
A ROTTEN ROPE.
    He then started across, and when he had gone about half way he knelt on the wire and rested his cheek on his hand while his elbow rested on his knee. Then he began to rise, and made a graceful salutation to the admiring crowd. At that moment a rope attached to the block and tackle gave way and the cable fell to the street, hurling the unfortunate man downwards. He turned over once in his descent and struck the hard ground with his head and shoulder. A few groans and shrieks were heard from the crowd, and then a deathlike stillness fell upon the scene for a moment. Then several men rushed forward and picked up the limp form of the rope-walker and carried it into Dr. Hudson's office across the way.
THE GHASTLY SCENE.
    A pool of blood about the size of a man's hand marked the spot where the athlete fell. Men's faces were blanched and women turned away sickened. Dr. Hudson found that the rope-walker's left clavicle was broken in two places and his skull fractured, but without the broken bone depressing upon the brain. Blood gushed from the nostrils, mouth and ears, and there were other evidences of hemorrhage of the brain. Of course the patient was unconscious, but the physician did all that was possible under the circumstances. In addition to the injuries enumerated above the scalp was torn open and there was a great bruise near the small of the back.
    For an hour or more afterwards a crowd of several hundred persons remained in the vicinity gazing up at the windows of the doctor's office as though fascinated. A bucket containing water and blood was emptied out of one of the windows upon the awnings, and the fluid leaked through the cracks upon a young countryman named Overheiser.
TREACHEROUS STRANDS.
    The tackle rope, the breaking of which caused the accident, hung down to within a few feet of the sidewalk and was critically inspected by the bystanders. It was found to be so rotten that the broken strands could easily be picked to pieces by the fingers. Much surprise was manifested that a man should trust his life to so frail a support.
DEATH OF THE UNFORTUNATE.
    At 2:30 o'clock the injured man was taken into a hack by Chief Rogers and Officer Malloy to be placed in the County Hospital. On the way he died. The hack was then driven to Bond's undertaking establishment, where the body now lies, dressed in the blue tights and gold spangles of the rope-walker's profession.
    Leoni was 34 years old. He has been in the show business for twenty-four years and in the rope-walking business ten years. He has a wife, who is believed to be stopping at the International Hotel in San Francisco. The fatal block and tackle he borrowed from a river schooner yesterday.
    "That rope is rotten," said the schooner captain; "I'll give you a new one."
    "Oh, no, this is strong enough," replied the walker. The breaking was caused by the weight of the twelve men who held the guys. Leoni's true name is said to be William Ward.
The Mail, Stockton, California, March 14, 1885, page 1


Leoni's Last Walk.
    A Stockton dispatch of the 14th gives the following details of Leoni's tragic death: "This afternoon a large crowd gathered at the corner of El Dorado and Main streets to witness a rope-walking performance by Leoni, 'king of the air.' A wire had been stretched across the street from the tops of opposite two-story buildings. Leoni appeared at the top of the building on the west side, dressed in bright blue tights, trimmed with gold fringe. After bowing to the crowd he grasped his balancing pole, cautiously stepped onto the cable and advanced slowly across. When a little more than halfway across he kneeled on one knee and one foot, and laying his balancing pole across his knee, placed his elbow on his knee and rested his head on his hand. At that instant one of the tackle ropes parted and let the cable down. Leoni grabbed to catch it where his knee rested, but missed it, and falling to the ground with a crash, struck on the back of his head and neck, breaking his left clavicle in two places and fracturing his skull. The blood rushed from his nostrils, mouth and ears. A physician was immediately summoned, but Leoni died about an hour later, while being taken to the county hospital. He was 34 years of age and had been in the show business about twenty years."
    The San Francisco Chronicle says: "M. Leoni's true name was Maloney. His parents reside in New York, and he leaves a widow in Santa Rosa, this state. His last performance in this city was walking a tight wire from the dome of the pavilion at the ocean beach, and his last engagement in the immediate neighborhood of San Francisco was at the Coliseum, in Oakland, where daily, about five weeks ago, he walked a wire rope stretched across the street. He was about 32 years of age."
Daily British Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, March 19, 1885, page 5


    A few days ago a tight-rope walker, known as Leoni, the King of the Air, while giving an open-air performance at Stockton, Cal., fell and broke his neck.
"West and South," Jackson Sentinel, Maquoketa, Iowa, March 19, 1885, page 2


    A dispatch from Stockton, Cal., of March 14th, gives the following account of the killing of Leoni, the "king of the air," who walked a tight rope between the Sentinel office and the U.S. Hotel in Jacksonville several years since.
"The wire had been attached across the street from the tops of opposite two-story buildings. Leoni appeared at the top of the building on the west side, dressed in bright blue tights, trimmed with gold fringe. After bowing to the crowd he grasped his balancing pole, cautiously stepped onto the cable and advanced slowly across. When a little more than half way across he keeled on one knee and one foot, and, laying his balancing pole across his knee, placed his elbow on his knee and rested his head on his hand. At that instant one of the tackle ropes parted and let the cable down. Leoni grabbed to catch it where his knee rested, but missed it, and, falling to the ground with a crash, struck on the back of his head and neck, breaking his left clavicle in two places and fracturing his skull. The blood gushed from his nostrils, mouth and ears. A physician was immediately summoned, but Leoni died almost an hour later, while being taken to the county hospital. He was 34 years of age and had been in the show business about twenty years."
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, March 21, 1885, page 3


    The death of Leoni, by a fall from his tight rope, is telegraphed from Stockton, Cal. 

New York Clipper, March 21, 1885


    A few days ago an item appeared in the Associated Press news that "Leoni," a rope walker, fell and was instantly killed in Stockton, Cal., while giving an exhibition. James Craig, a son of our townsman, Alexander Craig, was some years ago infatuated with this very dangerous profession, and having assumed the above nom de plume, it was thought that he was the victim. Inquiry at the Clipper office, New York, assured his friends to the contrary, and it has since been learned that Jim is located in Montana in the hotel business and is at present making lots of money.
"Pittston Points," Wilkes-Barre News, March 21, 1885, page 4  Jim may have been cleaning up in Montana, but there is an apparently unrelated James Craig, also buried in Pennsylvania, who also died in 1885 at 34 years of age, and whose father is a different Alexander Craig.


THE FATE OF LEONI.
Done in Verse by the Wretch of the "Wasp."

   
    O listen to the story
    Of the daring and the glory
Of a King whose dissolution we deplore,
    For at Stockton only lately
    He did most unfortunately
In the heyday of his reign become no more.
   
    His name was Mike Maloney,
    But he called himself "Leoni,
The Monarch of the Circumambient Air."
    Walking wires was his profession
    And he had a self-possession
That the people down below him didn't share.
   
    "No use," said they, "in talking;
    If your Majesty keeps walking
Through the firmament upon a slender wire,
    You'll be dropping something that you
    Value highly. O infatu-
ated sovereign, from this business pray retire."
   
    But with truly royal graces
    Still he trod the azure spaces,
Till one day the world was darkened with despair,
    For, his filament o'erweighted,
    He abruptly abdicated
His dominion of the Circumambient Air!
The Mail, Stockton, California, March 23, 1885, page 3


THE DEAD LEONI.
Antecedents of the Rope-Walker Who Recently Fell in this City.

    Cashier Fraser of the First National Bank here received today a letter from the cashier of a bank in Pittston, Pennsylvania, inquiring for particulars regarding Leoni, the rope-walker who recently fell in this city and abdicated his "dominion of the circumambient air." The letter says: "There is a worthy family in this town named Craig. One of the sons, James Craig, a scapegrace, left several years ago and was seen in a western city where he passed as Leoni, and was engaged as a tight-rope walker. His brother is a professor in the John Hopkins University of Baltimore, and is married to a daughter of General Alvord, late Paymaster of the United States Army." A newspaper paragraph in reference to Leoni's death had been seen by the family, and a letter was therefore sent to determine his identity.
The Mail, Stockton, California, March 25, 1885, page 3


    "Leoni," the "king of the air," a tight-rope walker who fell from a cable and broke his neck at Stockton, Cal., on March 15th, is said to be John Seaman, an old Wolcott boy.
"Other Counties," The Medina Register, New York, March 26, 1885, page 3    Leoni was not Mr. "Seaman." The death of tight-rope walker James Seman in a performance in Flushing, New York, was reported in the National Police Gazette of May 27, 1882, page 6.  An account in the Batavia Daily News (May 10, 1882, page 1) reveals that Seman was the son of the editor of the Norwich Sentinel, and had fallen in Hollister, California several months previously. The Syracuse Daily News (May 11, 1882) reported the father was editor of the Methodist Sentinel, Norwich, N.Y., and that Seman was buried in Wolcott, Wayne County, New York.



    "Leoni," the tight-rope walker, who gave exhibitions here some time since, fell from a rope at Stockton, California, a few days ago and broke his neck. He was 34 years old and had been a showman for twenty years.   

"Here and There," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, March 27, 1885, page 3


    Leoni, a tight-rope walker, who performed in this city several years ago, met his death at Stockton, California recently, by the breaking of one of the tackle ropes, which let him fall on his head, fracturing his skull.. He was 34 years of age.   

"Here and There," Roseburg Review, March 27, 1885, page 3



    Leoni, the "King of the Air," who gave an exhibition of tight rope walking in Ashland two or three years ago, was killed Saturday the 14th, at Stockton, Cal. The following particulars are from a press dispatch of that date. "The wire had been attached across the street from the tops of opposite two-story buildings. Leoni appeared at the top of the building on the west side, dressed in bright blue tights, trimmed with gold fringe. After bowing to the crowd he grasped his balancing pole, cautiously stepped onto the cable and advanced slowly across. When a little more than half way across he keeled on one knee and one foot, and, laying his balancing pole across his knee, placed his elbow on his knee and rested his head on his hand. At that instant one of the tackle ropes parted and let the cable down. Leoni grabbed to catch it where his knee rested, but missed it, and, falling to the ground with a crash, struck on the back of his head and neck, breaking his left clavicle in two places and fracturing his skull. The blood gushed from his nostrils, mouth and ears. A physician was immediately summoned, but Leoni died almost an hour later, while being taken to the county hospital. He was 34 years of age and had been in the show business about twenty years."
Ashland Tidings, March 27, 1885, page 3


A Rope-Walker Killed.
    Prof. Leoni, a tight-rope walker, met with a tragic death at Stockton, Cal., a few days ago. He was performing upon a wire cable stretched from the roof of the board of trade building to the roof of the old Stockton theater. The cable was fastened to the former building with some ropes and a block. The guy ropes were held by 12 men in the street. Leoni appeared at the top of the building on the west side, dressed in bright blue tights, trimmed with gold fringe. After bowing to the crowd, he grasped his balancing pole, cautiously stepped on the cable and advanced slowly across. When a little more than halfway across he keeled on one knee and foot; and, laying his balancing pole across his knee, placed his elbow on his knee and rested his head on his hand. At that instant one of the tackle ropes parted and let the cable down. Leoni grabbed to catch it where his knee rested, but missed it, and falling to the ground with a crash, striking on the back of his head and neck, breaking his left clavicle and fracturing his skull. The blood gushed from his mouth, nostrils and ears. A physician was immediately summoned, but Leoni died an hour later, while being taken to the county hospital. He was 34 years of age and had been in the show business about 20 years.
The Coast Mail, Marshfield, Oregon, April 2, 1885, page 4


    When M. Leoni ["M." was an abbreviation for "Monsieur."] came to Eureka in the sumer of 1883, he was the sensation of his day. His fearless presentations, high over Eureka on a tight rope, were the talk over every table.
    At one time, the Vance Hotel--then the Vance House--was topped with a cupola. From this, arrivals of ships could be viewed and announced by raising signal flags. The great Leoni anchored one end of his tight rope to this, and the other end across the street to the top of the Masonic Hall. Below him was Second Street, and below him came a great crowd to see Leoni at his best. Perform he did. Leoni was satisfied with the crowd's pleasure, and they filled the passed hat with suitable monetary response.
    Two years later, in March 1885, came the news of one of M. Leoni's greatest performances--his last, for his luck had run out--in Stockton.
    The San Francisco Chronicle responded to the sad story, and the editor of The Weekly Humboldt Times followed:
    "This afternoon (in Stockton) a large crowd gathered at the corner of El Dorado and Main Street to witness a rope-walking performance by Leoni, 'king of the air.' A wire had been stretched across. When a little more than halfway across [omission] story buildings, Leoni appeared at the top of the building on the west side, dressed in bright blue tights, trimmed with gold fringe. After bowing to the crowd he grasped his balancing pole, cautiously stepped  up on the cable and advanced slowly across. When a little more than halfway across he keeled on one knee and rested his head on his hand. At that instant one of the tackle ropes parted and let the cable down. Leoni grabbed to catch it where his knee rested, but missed it, and falling to the ground with a crash, striking on the back of his head and neck. He was 34 years of age and had been in the show business about 20 years."
    The report said the performer's parents resided in New York and his wife lived in Santa Rosa. "M. Leoni's true name was Maloney. One of his last performances in this city (San Francisco) was walking a tight wire from the dome of the pavilion at the ocean beach. About five weeks ago, he daily walked a wire stretched across the street in Oakland."
    A brave man, a good showman of his time!
Andrew Genzoli, "M. Leoni's 'Farewell'," Times Standard, Eureka, California, March 29, 1972, page 23. This article was originally printed in the Humboldt Times of March 23, 1965 (page 18), and again reprinted in the Times-Standard of July 10, 1980, page 19.



A Plunge from a Tight Rope.
    John Leon, the well-known rope walker, who lives at Springfield, Ohio, and who walked a rope over the Genesee Falls last season, had a bad fall at the fair grounds celebration at Springfield. While performing on the rope at the height of forty feet one of the guy rope holders slackened his grip, as he thought, to aid the performer, but instead it threw him off his balance and he was pitched headlong to the ground as a shriek of horror arose from the crowd. Fortunately he managed to light sidewise, bringing the main force of the fall on his hip. His hip joint and arm were fractured and his nose broken. He was also injured internally, but it is not thought fatally. He is under engagement to walk a tight rope over Niagara Falls, Rochester and other places this season, but his injuries will probably lay him up too long for that.
"Our Pictures," The National Police Gazette, July 24, 1886, page 2.   John Leon may have been the source of Leoni's stage name--Leon+Maloney--though an acrobat and tightrope walker calling himself "Monsieur Leoni" had toured Australia at least 1869-1886.




Last revised August 24, 2022