the Mists landings. The selection of the bridge site was based more on aesthetics than technical ease; it was the narrowest point of the gorge— across and deep—that allowed a full view of the falls from the American side. After the bridge companies were founded, they invited engineers to submit plans and cost estimates for a suspension bridge that carried a railway. The invitation was met with skepticism among the engineering community. At that time, there was not a suspension bridge that could allow a train to pass over it safely. While the Europeans were erecting suspension bridges by the hundreds, the Americans mostly ignored them out of safety concerns; in 1831 Sir Samuel Brown's Broughton Suspension Bridge in Britain had collapsed under the marching feet of a troop of soldiers, sending those on its deck into the River Irwell. Furthermore, many American bridges had collapsed without experiencing weight and pressure equivalent to railroad traffic, and American engineers feared that any railway bridge would likely fail—especially a suspension bridge. Four engineers responded: Edward Serrell, Samuel Keefer, Charles Ellet, Jr., and John Augustus Roebling. All submitted designs for a suspension bridge. At the time of the bidding, Ellet and Roebling were acknowledged as masters of suspension bridge building in America. Roebling submitted two designs, a conservative single-deck suspension bridge and a double-decked version, both with meticulous calculations and drawings. Instead of relying solely on submissions, Charles Ellet, Jr. took a proactive approach. When he got wind of the project in 1845, he wrote to Charles B. Stuart, chief engineer of the Great Western Railway, boldly proclaiming that he could build a bridge for any likely purpose across the Niagara. After the charters had been obtained, Ellet helped Stuart to sell the bridge companies' stock and offered to buy US$30,000 worth of stock himself. His efforts earned him the $190,000 bridge contract on November 9, 1847. Charles Ellet Jr.'s temporary bridge While growing up on a farm in Pennsylvania, Charles Ellet Jr. scraped through odd jobs, but saved enough money to finance an education at the École nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in France. After attending four months of lectures, he toured Europe before returning to the United States as the only native-born American with European education in engineering. Ellet announced his ambitions to build suspension bridges in his country of birth by proposing to span the Potomac River with one. His