Four Lost in River
Fatal Boating Accident Near Kalama

Young People are Drowned

Herbert Martin, Saves Lives of Mother and Sweetheart, but Himself Succumbs With, a Sister and Two Misses Durkee

The Morning Oregonian
Friday May 30, 1902

In a boating accident in a lagoon off the Columbia River, six miles from Kalama, about 10 o'clock Wednesday night, four young people were drowned and a mother was compelled to cling to a capsized boat and watch her son and daughter and two young lady friends drown before her eyes. In a most heroic manner Herbert Martin, 21 years old, saved the lives of his mother and sweetheart, and then he started back to try to save the lives of the other young women, but was drowned himself. The accident was caused by a loose plank allowing water partially to fill the rowboat, and it is supposed in the excitement the occupants rushed to the other side of the boat and the frail craft became overbalanced. Those who are drowned:

HERBERT MARTIN, 21 years old.
IVY MARTIN, 18 years old.
NELLIE DURKEE, 20 years old.
MYRTLE DURKEE, 18 years old.

The Durkee and Martin families are neighbors, and their homes adjoin each other at Martin's Bluff. Elizabeth Martin, whose son gave up his life to save hers, owns a small farm, her husband having died about two years ago at St. Vincent's Hospital from dropsy and the results of an operation. Joseph Durkee, father of the two girls who were drowned, runs a small farm, and both the Durkee and Martin families have been in the habit of participating in river excursions with each other. 

Wednesday evening, about 7:S0 o'clock, the young people talked of rowing over to Martin's Island, about 150 yards distant, and persuaded Mrs. Martin and a neighbor, Mrs. Jones,
to accompany them. They were a jolly party of eight as they stepped into the boat. In addition to Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Jones, there were: Herbert, Ivy and Ella Martin, and Nellie, Myrtle and Lillie Durkee. 

Herbert Martin was engaged to marry Lillie Durkee. After tying up the boat at Martin's Island, the party went to visit Gilbert Scott, a son of Richard Scott, of Milwaukee, and his assistant, Charles Hahlenberg. The young folks spent about two hours with their hosts, talking and singing. Herbert Martin was good-naturedly bantered as being the only young man in the crowd, and he laughingly declared that he could take care of all the girls under his escort. 

It was about 10 o'clock when the members of the merry little party announced they must go home. The weather was mild, the water smooth, and the lagoon in which the boat floated reflected a perfect Summer picture. As they floated the young people sang "Bury Me in Old Virginia." Home was only a short distance away when the catastrophe occurred. It had been noticed that one of the boards in the boat had become separated from the framework, and, although a small quantity of water lay at the bottom of the boat, nobody was uneasy about the matter, as the distance between the Island and mainland is short. 

But during this eventful journey home, on the return trip, it was noticed that the boat leaked quite a good deal and a cry arose that it was sinking. Instantly the women and girls lost all control of themselves, and in the confusion they probably went to the other side and the boat became overbalanced and sank. The screams of the women were heartrending. Herbert Martin, who was not an expert swimmer, seized hold of his mother as he was sinking and swam with her to the overturned boat, telling her not to let go until help came from the Island. 

Then he went back to the spot where the girls had disappeared. The mother knew he had gone after Lillie Durkee, his sweetheart, and, sure enough, he appeared with her the next minute, and also told her to cling to the upturned boat. Then he went back to try to save two other girls. By this time the young man's strength was spent, and he was weighed down by his wet clothing and boots. He felt he had not breath to struggle any more, and as he sank he turned instinctively toward his mother and sweetheart and was heard to say as a good-bye; "Well, I have saved mother and Lillie." 

Ella Martin, 10 years old, had seized hold of a plank of wood as it floated past, and she was in comparative safety. Mrs. Jones was some little distance away from her, and appeared to be able to keep afloat by lying with her back in the water, but she could not swim. By this time the women's screams for help had reached Scott and Dahlenberg, on the Island, and already these two were rowing to the scene of the disaster with all the speed of which they were capable. Mrs. Jones felt that she could not keep afloat much longer. 

She was fervently praying for help. The two young men appeared with their boat in the nick of time. Mrs. Jones and the little girl were promptly hauled in, also Mrs. Martin and Lillie Durkee. Search was made for the other missing girls and Herbert Martin, but without avail. The rescued ones were taken home and tenderly cared for, and the men of the neighborhood got out boats and cruised around the scene of the accident, hoping that they might yet find some of the victims.

At daylight yesterday morning a party headed by Ed Goerlg, of Kalama, started to search for the bodies. Ordinary hooks were found to be useless, and barbed wire hooks were used. The four bodies were speedily found, about 20 feet apart, in about 10 feet of water. The funeral will take place this afternoon, at Martin's Bluff, under the direction of Dunning & Campion, undertakers, of this city.

The Martin family is a highly respected one in the section. Herbert Martin's grandfather settled at Martin's Bluff about the year 1850, and the property has been in the family since then. Herbert Martin was an only son. His other surviving sister is Mrs. H. M. Madden 354 College street in Portland.

On May 30, 1902, the bodies of Ivy Martin, Nellie and Myrtle Durkee, and of Herbert Martin, who so gallantly gave up his life in a fruitless effort to save his companions, as told in yesterday's Journal, were buried at Martin's Bluff this afternoon in the presence of a large crowd of sorrowing friends. The funeral was one of the largest ever held in the district, many attending as a tribute to the heroism of the young man and as an expression of sympathy for the sorrow of his mother and sweetheart, who owe their lives to his bravery.