"With over 8 million guests from around the world, gorgeous fountains and pavilions, and an exciting midway, the 1901 Pan-American Exposition served as both Buffalo’s greatest triumph and the stage for a national tragedy – the assassination of President William McKinley--Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.
The event was organized by the Pan-American Exposition Company, formed in 1897. Cayuga Island was initially chosen as the place to hold the Exposition because of the island's proximity to Niagara Falls, which was a huge tourist attraction. But when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, plans were put on hold.
After the war, there was a heated competition between Buffalo and Niagara Falls over the location. Buffalo won for two main reasons. First, Buffalo had a much larger population — with roughly 350,000 people, it was the eighth-largest city in the United States. Second, Buffalo had better railroad connections — the city was within a day's journey by rail for over 40 million people. In July 1898, Congress pledged $500,000 for the Exposition to be held at Buffalo.
The "Pan American" theme was carried throughout the event with the slogan "commercial well being and good understanding among the American Republics." Nikola Tesla had recently invented a three-phase system of alternating current power transmission for distant transfer of electricity. This allowed designers to light the Exposition in Buffalo using power generated 25 miles (40 km) away at Niagara Falls.---Wikipedia
The exposition is most remembered because U.S. President William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, at the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901; the President died 8 days later. McKinley had given an address at the exposition the previous day; his speech included the following words:
"Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. They record the world's advancements. They stimulate the energy, enterprise, and intellect of the people, and quicken human genius. They go into the home. They broaden and brighten the daily life of the people. They open mighty storehouses of information to the student...."
The video above contains video clips and pictures I took of the McKinley Monument in Niagara Square and of downtown Buffalo Sunday night. I've been listening to the Iron and Wine song Flightless Bird American Mouth for days and it's so incredibly touching. When Sam Beam sings, "Stole me a dog-eared map, called for you everywhere..."
Beyond words. The tenderness for America, its past, hopes, uncertain future is beyond words. I don't think I've heard a more heartfelt song about our country. Note: This isn't a xtian song but Sam Beam is. Still, the song is too beautiful to ignore for that reason alone. Perhaps he is alluding to the country's founding fathers, or returning to G-d. Only Sam Beam knows what he meant. Here are the lyrics:
I was a quick wet boy
Diving too deep for coins
All of your street light eyes
Wide on my plastic toys
And when the cops closed the fair
I cut my long baby hair
Stole me a dog-eared map
And called for you everywhere
Have I found you?
Flightless bird, jealous, weeping
Or lost you?
American mouth
Big pill looming
Now I'm a fat house cat
Nursing my sore blunt tongue
Watching the warm poison rats
Curl through the wide fence cracks
Pissing on magazine photos
Those fishing lures thrown in the cold and clean
Blood of Christ mountain stream
Have I found you?
Flightless bird, grounded, bleeding
Or lost you?
American mouth
Big pill stuck going down
"perhaps one day we will once again have a nation of expositions"