The Day an Indian Survived a Waterfall Leap
Mitchell Potera, a Shawnee man from Waunette, Washington, jumped off Steilacoom Falls to escape his pursuers—and walked away with only scratches.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
WAUNETTE, Wash., May 4.
Mitchell Potera, drunken Shawnee Indian, was carried over the Steilacoom Falls, the most dangerous rapid on the Puget Sound region, yesterday, and came alive. He jumped on a moving log to cross the river, and with it was carried over. The falls are about fifty feet high, and the loaming crew, thinking him drowned, did not even search for his body. This morning he appeared at breakfast, uninjured, with the exception of a few scratches.
This 1903 account of Mitchell Potera’s survival reads like a stunt gone right, but it highlights the precarious existence of Indigenous people in early Washington State, often portrayed through the lens of sensationalism or 'otherness' by white settlers. While the newspaper frames it as a curious oddity ('wonders'), it serves as a stark reminder of the physical dangers and marginalization faced by Native communities during this era.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.