George Fisher ?-1887

FISHER

Posted By: Merllene Andre Bendixen (email)
Date: 11/24/2011 at 00:29:20

Chilled to Death
One of the saddest cases of accidental death that has occurred during our residence in Emmet County was that of George Fisher chilling to death in the ice cold water of Mud Lake, while his comrades were trying to effect his rescue. The facts as we have been able to learn them are about as follows:

On the afternoon of October 30th, Ed. Ketchum and George Fisher, two young men of this place, were hunting water fowl at Mud Lake, in High Lake township. Ketchum was following the shore and Fisher was rowing up the Lake in a small skiff at some distance from the shore, the boys hunted until about three o’clock, when a flock of ducks came circling over Fisher, he stood up in the bot and fired a shot at them, at the crack of the gun Fisher was seen to fall backward in the water presumably from the recoil of the gun, he caught on the side of the boat and Ketchum asked him if he could get in the boat, he replied that he could not. Ketchum then told him to hold on and he would bring help, he then ran up to the house of Mrs. Donahue a distance of about three fourths of a mile and returned with Ed. Donahue and Jas. Maher. They found an old boat on the shore and put it in the watr but it leaked so badly they could not use it. Donahue then started for the residence of Ed Mulroney a distance of three quarters of a mile to secure a better boat, after waiting some time and not seeing anything of Donahue, Ketchum started after him and meeting a farmer in a wagon they drove to Muroney’s but could see nothing of Donahue nor find a boat, they then started for Peter N. Peterson’s a distance of about a mile to secure another boat. In the mean time Maher determined to attempt the resucue in the leaky boat and nearly rescued Fisher when his boat being partly filled with water and Donahue coming up in the boat he startd for. Maher called to him that he was cramping and asked to be taken ashore, Donahue then turned about and took Maher ashore and then returned for young Fisher who was hanging by one hand, but speechless. Donahue instead of securing Fisher started to tow the boat ashore and had proceeded but a short distance when Fisher let go his hold, threw his arms in the air and instantly sank to the bottom. When Fisher first fell out of the boat he was about eighty rods from shore, the wind drifted him slightly to shore and when he sank was about three hundred feet from shore in water about four feet deep and at about half past four in the evening. A number of residents of the vicinity organized a search for the body and when word of the accident was brought to town a number went from here to join in the search and about 12:30 a.m. their efforts were successful, a fishing seine being brought into requisition he body was brought to shore and removed to Estherville and prepared for interment.

This sad accident seems like a case where human life might have been saved. Young Fisher was loaded down with ammunition and wore heavy hip boots but was an excellent swimmer and if he had divested himself of clothing and ammunition it seems as if he might have been able to get in the boat and made his way to shore to kept out of the water sufficiently to prevent chilling so badly, and on the other hand if those present had made a raft of timber, lumber, barn door or even a log of wood he might have been reached before the expiration of the time in which he remained in the ice cold water. But after all it is much easier to tell how the battle might have been won than to do the fighting and mankind are pretty much alike in not doing the proper thing at the right time and place and we are forcibly reminded of the truth of the saying that, “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these ‘It might have been.’” (Emmet County Republican, Estherville, IA, November 3, 1887)