Accident Database

Report ID# 556

Help
  • Caught in Low Head Dam Hydraulic
  • Does not Apply
  • Cold Water
  • High Water
  • One Boat Trip

Accident 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.

Join AW and support river stewardship nationwide!