The Deckhand Who Went Overboard in Box Canyon
Painting the steamer Metaline, Frank Spaulding missed a grip rail and plunged into the cold, swift Pend Oreille River—then nearly cramped before a crewman fished him out with a pole.
Frank Spaulding, an employee on the steamer Metaline and well known in Ione, had a narrow escape from drowning Sunday. He was painting the steamer, holding with one hand to the grip rail. The grip rail does not run the full length of the boat. Just as the steamer was entering the head of the canyon he reached the end of the rail and, without noticing, reached for another grip, grasped empty air, lost his balance and fell into the river. The steamer was stopped immediately, but in the excitement it was some time before a line could be thrown to him, and he struggled desperately in the cold, swift water. Just as he was beginning to cramp, a pole was got to him and he was pulled into a boat. He slipped off the boat just after coming through Box Canyon. The water was so cold and he was so cramped that he was unable to swim or help himself. One of the crew fished him out with a pole.
“Just as he was beginning to cramp a pole was gotten to him and he was pulled into a boat.”
River work in the Pend Oreille country was dangerous long before modern safety gear and life jackets. A deckhand’s near-drowning on a working steamer reminds us that the region’s transport economy was built on cold water, steep canyons and narrow margins.
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