A Deadly Current on the Skykomish
A young man, already mourning a family tragedy, meets a fatal end after a rescue attempt turns into a river disaster.
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.
December 14th, by the overturning of a canoe on the Snohomish river, Mr. Peer and Mrs. Walter were drowned; Daniel O'Neal, a brother of Mrs. Walter, and Mrs. M. J. Hilleary getting ashore, the latter only with the help of O'Neal. It now seems that O'Neal was doomed to be drowned, his escape at the time referred to putting off the unfortunate event but a few days. On New Year's eve, Mr. O'Neal was assisting the steamer Little Eagle in hauling that craft over the riffle at the Skykomish 'cut-off,' which is one of the most dangerous points for navigation on the river. In attempting to cross from the tow-head to the cut-off, the eddy swung the stern upstream, and when the bow came into the swift current the boat careened dangerously. Mr. O'Neal, who was standing on the bow, let the line go; in doing so he stepped into one of the coils of the line and was dragged overboard. The boat drifted down stream, those on board being powerless to render the struggling and drowning man any assistance, and he soon sank from sight. Mr. O'Neal was an expert swimmer and could have easily swum ashore had he not been entangled in the line. At about 2 p.m. yesterday, the body was found a few feet from where it sank, with the line closely knotted about his legs. Mr. O'Neal was an industrious and exemplary young man aged about 25 years.
“It now seems that O'Neal was doomed to be drowned, his escape at the time referred to putting off the unfortunate event but a few days.”
This 1886 tragedy underscores the perennial, deadly hazards of the Snohomish and Skykomish river systems. Even today, these waterways remain treacherous for recreationists and workers alike, serving as a reminder of how industrial and river-based dangers have shaped the geography of human loss in the Pacific Northwest.
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