Lost Fishermen: 1909

It was supposed to be a relaxing family vacation at camp combined with a bit of trout fishing. Fate had other plans for Robert Walker and Ira Vendermark.

In late August of 1909, the families of two long-time Rap-Shaw Club members from Elmira, NY headed north to spend two weeks at the clubhouse at Witchhopple Lake. The party was composed of real estate agent Ira Vendemark and his wife Belle, along with master plumber Robert H. Walker, his wife Fannie and their adult daughter Myrtle Speh. Myrtle’s husband, Frederick L. Speh, planned to join them at camp for their second week.

 

The five of them left home early one Sunday morning in the Vendemarks’ touring car. They drove from Elmira to Utica, stopped for dinner and then drove on to Remsen where they stayed overnight. The next morning, they left the automobile behind and caught the morning train to Beaver River Station. They reached there on Monday about noon. They probably ate their dinner at the Norridgewock Hotel near the station then rode Pop Bullock’s wagon to Grassy Point on the Beaver River.

 

Jimmy Wilder, the club steward, was waiting with boats and another guide. They loaded everyone and everything into two boats and crossed the Beaver River. From Trout Pond on the north side of the river it was a little more than a mile hike on the Red Horse Trail to Salmon Lake where they boarded boats again. After crossing Salmon Lake, they hiked about one mile more to the camp. The guides did all the rowing and carried most of the baggage between the lakes. They probably reached the Rap-Shaw Club camp at Witchhopple Lake by suppertime.

On Friday morning, after spending five pleasant days in camp, Ira Vendemark and Robert Walker left for what was supposed to be a brief fishing trip. They walked two miles further up the Red Horse Trail to Clear Lake where there was a club boat and began to fish. They fished for an hour or so but had no luck so they decided to hike to an unnamed pond a bit further away to see if their luck improved. They left the boat on the far side of Clear Lake and set off through the woods. They expected to return about noon so they left their lunch in the boat. There was no trail but they had no trouble reaching their destination. They caught a few fish then decided to head back to Clear Lake to eat lunch.

 

Robert Walker was one of the original founders and Board members of Rap-Shaw. He had spent a lot of time at camp over the years and was well acquainted with that section of the woods. He did not feel it was necessary to carry a compass. Vendemark did not have a compass either. Unfortunately, the two men disagreed about the correct direction back to Clear Lake. Within an hour they were hopelessly lost.

 

The fishermen were expected back in camp at Witchhopple Lake in the early afternoon. When they did not turn up the club guides hiked to Clear Lake to see what happened. They found the club boat on the farther side of the lake. Since the boat had been deliberately pulled up on shore the guides concluded that the men were lost somewhere in the forest and started to search for them in all the most likely places. In the clear still air of the Adirondacks a man's voice can be heard a long distance. The guides repeatedly shouted but there was no reply.

 

Meanwhile the lost fishermen were walking in the wrong direction. They had wandered west into the wild area now called the Five Ponds Wilderness. This area was and still is one of the largest plots of trackless forest in the Adirondacks. The fishermen walked for the remainder of the day. They made a fire at nightfall and waited restlessly for daylight. They walked all day Saturday but never found a trail or recognized any landmarks. Fortunately, they had favorable weather and a few fish to eat.

 

Walker was wearing a pair of canvas sneakers with thin rubber soles that quickly disintegrated. He made makeshift shoes by tying his felt hat over one foot and some clothes over the other. Vendemark’s tight shoes were unfit for hiking. He soon developed blisters and bruises on both feet. By Saturday night they were in such poor condition that they did not dare to stop to rest but continued walking by moonlight. 

 

Just as they were about to collapse, they saw a light in the distance. They struggled on and finally reached Monahan’s lumber camp. The exact location of the Monahan lumber camp is unknown but it may have been near the present parking area for the trail from the Bear Pond Road to the Five Ponds Wilderness, about seventeen miles as the crow flies from the Rap-Shaw camp at Witchhopple Lake.

 

After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast, some of the loggers loaded the two fishermen onto horses and led them back to Witchhopple Lake via an old logging road. They arrived back at the Rap-Shaw Club camp about 1:00 pm Sunday. After searching the woods for two days the guides had just returned to camp and were making preparations to drag Clear Lake for the bodies when the lumbermen showed up with the grateful fishermen.

 

By this time Walker’s and Vendemark’s wives had almost given them up for dead. The day before they had placed a call to Myrtle Speh’s husband Fred back in Elmira. He set out at once for camp and arrived at Beaver River Station just in time to find out that his father-in-law had been rescued. The six Elmirans abandoned their plan to stay longer at camp and left for home on the Monday morning train.

 

I’m sure that both the men wore sturdy boots and carried a compass on their next trip to camp.

 

Source: Elmira Star-Gazette, Aug. 31, 1909 with a follow-up story on Sept. 3, 1909. Photographs are from the Rap-Shaw Club archive.

 

A version of this story appears in my book The History of the Rap-Shaw Club (2019).