Accident Database

Report ID#65335

1999-05-31
accident date
Sandra Townsend
victim
48
victim age
Big Fork
river
n/a
section
n/a
location
n/a
gage
High
water level
N/A
river difficulty
Caught in Low Head Dam Hydraulic
cause code(s)
Does not Apply
injury type(s)
Cold Water, High Water, One Boat Trip
factors
Private
trip type
Raft
boat type
status?
status

Description

In this mornings Spokane newspaper there was a report of one confirmed drowning, a female rafter and one presumed dead (no body recovered). This was on the Big Fork in Montana.A dam on the Big Hole River in Montana proved fatal to some unwary rafters over Memorial Day Weekend. An Associated Press dispatch forwarded by Slim Ray reported that the river was quite high, swollen by snowmelt and recent rains. After the raft capsized in the hydraulic, two men were able to swim to shore. Their companions, Sandra Townsend, 48, and Roxie Oakes, 22, drowned. Survivors said that fast currents prevented the party from taking out upstream of the drop.