Tethered Nik Wallenda walks on wire across Niagara Falls

[1]

Daredevil Nik Wallenda has finished his attempt to become the first person to walk on a tightrope 1,800 feet across the mist-fogged brink of roaring Niagara Falls.

The seventh-generation member of the famed Flying Wallendas had long dreamed of pulling off the stunt, never before attempted. Other daredevils have wire-walked over the Niagara River but farther downstream and not since 1896.

An estimated crowd of 125,000 people on the Canadian side and 4,000 on the American side watched Wallenda's stunt Friday night.

ABC televised the walk and insisted Wallenda use a tether to keep him from falling in the river. Wallenda said he agreed because he wasn't willing to lose the chance and needed ABC's sponsorship to help offset some of the $1.3 million cost of the spectacle.

He began his attempt on Friday night to walk on a tightrope 1,800 feet across the mist-fogged brink of roaring Niagara Falls.

"Oh, my gosh, it's an unbelievable view," an utterly calm-sounding Wallenda said as he walked over the edge of the falls. "I am so blessed to be in the position I am - to be the first person in the world to be where I am."

The seventh-generation member of the famed Flying Wallendas had long dreamed of pulling off the stunt, never before attempted. Other daredevils have wire-walked over the Niagara River but farther downstream and not since 1896.

"This is what dreams are made of, people," Wallenda said.

He took steady, measured steps amid the rushing mist over the falls as an estimated crowd of 125,000 people on the Canadian side and 4,000 on the American side watched. Along the way, he calmly prayed aloud.