Prospecting Tragedy on the Columbia
Two men set out from Prosser in search of fortune, but a capsized boat on the Columbia River left one man lost to the current.
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.
About April 16th, J. M. Nelson and F. A. Morgan, two residents of Prosser, left there on a prospecting trip up the Columbia river. On April 20th they reached a place opposite Trinidad in Grant county. It seems their supplies were running low and they procured a boat and started across the Columbia to Trinidad to stock up. While out in the river their boat capsized and they were both thrown into the water. Mr. Morgan swam ashore, but Mr. Nelson was drowned. A thorough search was made for the body, but as yet no trace has been found.
“While out in the river their boat capsized and they were both thrown into the water.”
The Columbia River remains a dangerous and unpredictable force, just as it was for the early 20th-century prospectors. The loss of J. M. Nelson serves as a stark reminder of the risks taken by those who traveled the river in small craft long before modern safety standards existed.
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