Year: 1874

William McEwen and George Smith
went out on the ice on Saginaw Bay on
Wednesday, Dec. 81, 1878, to fish. They
took with them to the shore sundry sup
plies Of provisions, ETC., intending to be
absent from home several days. They
took with them on the ice, however, only
their blankets, fsh-spears, two hand
sleighs, tools for cutting holes in the ice
and some other fshermen's apparatus.
The ice at this time was from four to six
inches thick, and the weather was stead
| lily but not severely cold. They spent
the afternoon fishing through the ice, and
secured three fish. A southerly wind was
blowing, and about halfpast four O'Clock
| McEwen looked up and saw a man who
had been near them running toward the
shore. At the same instant McEwen saw
that the ice had cracked in long line
about six rods from them, toward shore.
McEwen called to Smith, and both ran
| toward the crack for the purpose of es-
Gaping to the shore, but before they
reaced it, the crack-at first discovery
only six or eight inches wide
had increased so much that it was impos-
sible to jump across it.


When it was evident that there were no
means of getting across the crack other
wise, McEwen and Smith set about chop
ping out cake of ice large enough to
hold them, which they proposed to pole
| across the open water with their spear
| poles. Before they had half cut out the
cake, however, they saw that they were
drifting into deeper water, and trial
proved that they were already beyond
reach of bottom with their spear poles.


The castaways then abandoned all hope
of getting to shore at that point and
started over the ice to the west, in the be-
lief that it had not separated from the
shore along the west The ice which had
been broken loose had also broken into
many pieces, some large and some small.
The piece upon which the men were was
five or six acres in extent. Passing on to
the westward, they went over cakes
sometimes not over six or eight feet
square. Finally the ice became so much
broken up that they could no longer pro-
ceed. Then they tried to pole a cake to-
ward the shore, using their spear poles
for the purpose, when the water was so
deep that to reach the bottom they had to
put their arms into the water up to the
elbows. But after half an hour of this
desperate work, they were compelled to
abandon all effort and make their pre-
carious way back to the larger cakes of
ice in the main body. This attempt was
continued into the night of Wednesday,
which was fortunately bright moon
light one The men found secure piece
of ice and lay down for the night, put
ting their hand sleighs on the windward
side, and SO making tolerably comfort
able night with the aid of their blankets


During Wednesday night and Thursday
the wind blew steadily from the south
west. This was in the second day, and
still they were drifting toward the Char
ity Islands, as nearly as they could judge.
The ice did not seem to waste any Thurs
day, but it was evident twas not strength
ening. Neither of the men had eaten any
thing since coming on the ice on Wednes-
day. They had with them the three raw
fish which they had caught before the ice
food. This day they again moved to the
westward, to get as near the west shore as
possible, in the hope that the ice would
ultimately drift that way. On Friday
afternoon, the third day, while moving
toward the north shore across the drifting
cakes of ice, McEwen' s hand-sleigh, which
he was using to cross from one cake to
another, went down between two cakes,





however, was securely ON a cake, and
reached the spear-pole to his comrade and
helped him out, pretty thoroughly wet.
The drift was still eastward, and
on Saturday, the fourth day, they had
drifted so far in that direction that they
came in sight of Fish Point. Except that
of Wednesday the nights had not been
very cold, and Saturday night was not
uncomfortably so. Sunday, the fifth day,
was the worst they had experienced. The
storm was not of long continuance, but it
was violent, and warm rain cut holes IN
the ice all about the castaways as large as
a mans head. The cake upon which
they were had weakened until it was only
about three inches in thickness. The
heavy gale made a considerable sea,
which broke and ground up the ice on
the edges of the great field, and must soon
have done the same to the piece on which
the men were, had the gale continued.
Suddenly, however, the wind shifted to
the northwest, and the ice began to join
up close together. There was steady
wind after the storm, and they found
pieces breaking off from the cake on
which they were floating


The sixth day, Monday, they started for
the east shore of the bay, having been
drifted so far in that direction that they
thought they could soonest reach the
shore there. After going three miles
they came across small ducking boat
fast in the ice. This they did not try to
move, but travelled on till twelve at
night, when they found that the wind had
parted the body of ice, and further pro-
gress in that direction was barred. They
returned to the westward, and taking up
the ducking boat Gin their way, endeav-
ored to break their way through in it to
the west shore, toward which they were
then drifting. One of them, however, got
into the water, and finally they were
obliged to give it up again. Then they
resigned themselves to wait for weather
cold enough to stiffen up the ice, or to
make new ice between them and the
shore.


On Sunday they saw, in the direction
of the Saginaw lighthouse, the smoke of
steam vessel, and thought then that
their friends were at last apprised of their
situation, and were making an effort to
save them. This was the smoke of the
tug Mcdonald, which went out some
miles beyond the lighthouse and returned
when the storm came on, having discov-
cred nothing. The tugs smoke was pc
culiar, and they recoA niZed it at once as
the first sign they had received that any
thing of their fate was known at home.
The hope which this sight inspired of
course died away during Monday, when
nothing more of the kind was seen.


Monday nj ght brought the cold, freeZ-
ing temperature which the castaways had
been looking and hoping for, and on the
morning of Tuesday, which would have
been their seventh day, they found that the
old ice had not only been materially
| trengthened and frozen together, but that