Joseph Okenotego, 53, fisherman and farmer, helped to save William Prout, 41; Alfred Shampine, 44, and Amab Lavake, 31, fishermen, from drowning, Good Hart, Michigan, November 8, 1908. Prout and his companions, in a disabled gasoline launch, were on Lake Michigan in a storm. They drifted before the storm, dragging their anchor, until the afternoon of the following day, when the anchor caught and held a half-mile from shore. Because of the heavy breakers the men feared to attempt a landing. Persons on shore feared to attempt a rescue in a rowboat. The storm continued unabated during the night, and the next morning Okenotego and a companion put out in a rowboat, at a point 1.5 miles from the scene. The waves were from six to eight feet high, and several times the boat was nearly swamped. Okenotego and his companion reached the launch and took the men into their boat and then headed straight for shore, although at that point it was very rocky. The heavy breakers nearly swamped the boat, and when it was near shore, a breaker threw the boat forward about 60 feet and left it stranded 20 feet from shore. Men ran out and helped drag the boat to land. Two hours had elapsed since Okenotego set out. The next morning the launch was found on the rocks with a hole in it. 5040-893
5040 – 893
5040-893