Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1903-10-14


Mud Lake. He at once instituted q
search, and thinking that possibly the
boy might have gone to Mud Lake
with the other parties he first left in
that direction. Finding DO trace of
the missing boy, he directed his efforts
to securing the country in the vicinity
OF Foot Lake and made q close search
through the section west of the lake.
Allyn, he says, never failed to come
home when told to be there at cer-
tain time, so he was positive that
some harm had come to the boy. In
quiries had been made among the
families of the missing boys, and
when evening came and no hunters
had yet returned the worst fears were
entertained for their safety It was
stated that the party had been seen
about noon on the opposite shore
from the Bende Point by some thresh-
ermen who were At work across the
lake. Previous to that Fred Acker-
man had seen some hunting party from
the road while driving to the sIaugh-
ter house west of the city, and thought
that it might possibly have been the
same boys. 1t appeared to him as if
part of the party was in boat.
1t was early Sunday morning when
party of searchers discovered
Birch's boat about half ways out on
the lake, and this was the first real
clue to the missing ones. The boat
was found by I. T. Cramer and John
Williams. It had been capsized and
was floating in about seven feet of
water. One decoy was found near
the boat and another about four hun
dred feet away, where the boat had
evidently tipped over and from where
it had drifted. The wind was in d.
rection that had dritted the boat fur
ther out from the shore on this side,
as it was apparent that the boys had
attempted to cross for home and re-
turn to dinner. The theory is thas
they had all got into the small boat
which hardly contains accommoda-
ton for two persons, and on account
of the heavy sea at the time lost con-
troll of the boat. Only one oar lock
was found of the two which previously
had been securely fastened to the SOCK
cts with twine. The oars were found
later on the other shore, to where they
had evidently drifted. A sprocket
wheel weighing about ten pounds had
been used rs boat anchor, and this
was caught in the weeds, the lake bot
tom at that point being quite muddy.
It was estimated that the capsized
boat was about 10 rods out from the
shore on this side, directly across
from what is known as the old Eric
Nelson grove:
It was now too plainly q case of
drowning, and after the call for volun-
teers had been made to assist in bring
ing up the dead bodies, q large num-
Der of our citizens made their way to
the lake. A systematic search was
instituted>and q committee organized
to lead the work of dragging the lake
for the remains of the three boys.
The following members constituted
the committee: John Williams, fore
man; w. L. Crosby, G. A. Olsen, w.
e. Tew and Chas. 81. johnson. All
the available boats were put into SER
vice and improvised graphing hooks
were used by the different parties in
the respective boats.
The work of dragging was fairly
started shortly after noon and it was
about two o'clock, when . party con-
sisting Of A. Lund, s.. p. Johnson,
Knut Berg and Alfred Johnson were
in their lsbors by, catching
hold Of . body which proved to be
that of Allyn Birch. He was found
about four feet away from where the
boat had been discovered, which
proved that he had clung to the boat
until he Was exhausted. His coat had
been removed, one shoe was of and
The other partly unlaced, which would
Indicate that he had attempted to re-
lieve himself Of some clothing In order
10 swim TO shore. The body Was found
ii 5 cramped up position, showing
that Allyn had been seized with
cramps and naturally was then un-
able to save himself from sinking.
How long the little man had iabored
ID the vain attempt to save his life
viii never be known. The remains
Were Immediately taken to the under