Humboldt County Historical Society

There was a time when most Humboldt County folks would not have considered the summer to be complete without attending a balloon ascension.

Requiring about two dozen volunteers to man the guy ropes and tend to the fires while the varnished or rubberized cloth balloon was inflated, balloon ascensions were thrilling spectator events fraught with danger: no one, not even the balloonist, knew what would happen when the balloon was finally set aloft and the guy ropes released: a plaything of the wind, its course could not be predicted.

Volunteers help prepare for a balloon ascension on the Arcata Plaza in 1897. To the right of the balloon, a man stands in a sand pit in which a fire will be built under the balloon's mouth. At the far right a young boy holds the trapeze bar, from which the balloonist will dangle and perform as the balloon soars aloft. Photo Courtesy: Clark Historical Museum

Balloonists traveled the country thrilling the public during the last two decades of the nineteenth century and the first decade of the twentieth. As the first "aeronauts," balloonists were the superstars of their day. Simple ascensions soon gave way to more breathtaking displays: hanging from a trapeze bar, the balloonist would perform aerial acrobatics as the balloon ascended, then let go and parachute to earth. That is, if all went according to plan.

In his 1986 Humboldt Historian article, Peter Palmquist notes that many balloonists displayed bodily scars and limps, evidence of previous ascensions gone awry. But the successful balloonist earned fame and fortune, drawing large crowds who bought tickets or made donations. Men balloonists could even adopt the title of "professor." Women balloonists, their outfits considered revealing at the time, were an added draw to the public.

The 1897 balloon ascension underway on the Arcata Plaza, pictured above, is believed to have been executed by the aeronaut Professor Weston. It was later on this very same day, in Eureka, that Professor Weston made the final balloon ascension of his career.

The place chosen for the Eureka ascension was a vacant, sheltered spot at 12th and H Streets, amidst a onetime forest of alders. A large festive crowd of men, women, and children gathered. In customary fashion, a fire was built under the mouth of the balloon, and dippers of coal oil were thrown on the fire by volunteers, causing gas to rise and the balloon to inflate. The crowd's anticipation increased likewise, for as the hulking gas bag filled, it took on an eerie life of its own.

At last all was ready. Professor Weston gripped the trapeze bar, and the order was given to release the guy ropes. But Weston's helper, H. Tapscott, was not yet clear of the ropes. Ensnared, Tapscott was lifted twenty-five feet into the air before he could disentangle himself, whereupon he fell headfirst to the ground.

Because of the added weight of the assistant, the balloon failed to rise high enough above the trees; suddenly it veered in the wind, throwing Weston into the alders, and then he too fell to earth. Neither man survived.

A witness of the doomed ascension, Eureka native Clarence Coonan, is quoted in a 1983 Humboldt Historian: "The children who saw this tragedy (and I was one of them), were greatly affected, and spoke of it with awe for a long time after."