Holcombe Logging Disaster
Holcombe Town Hall Park, Holcombe

On July 7, 1905, sixteen loggers of the Chippewa Lumber and Boom Company attempted to break a log jam on the Chippewa River at Holcombe below Little Falls dam, one of the largest wooden dams in the world. The batteau boat they were riding in reached the log jam but got beyond the men’s control in the wild current of the rapids. At 10:30 in the morning the boat capsized.

The following eleven men drowned:
Oscar Barquest- Cadott
Max Billard- Drywood
Saul Brackett- Eau Claire
Henry Bryon Furgeson- Chippewa City
Louis Gokey- Flambeau
Andrew Gonyea- Jim Falls
Ole Horne- Chippewa Falls
Burt Larry- Anson
Paddy Leyden- Drywood
Joe Peloquin- Drywood
Adolph Toutant- Cadott

These five men miraculously survived:
John Dressel- Chippewa Falls
George Kaiser- Chippewa Falls
Eddie Martin- Chippewa Falls
William Smith- Drywood
Emil Toutant- Cadott

Dressel, Kaiser, and Smith jumped onto the log jam itself when the boat struck it. Martin and Toutant were swept through the rapids and were picked up later a mile down the river nearly exhausted. Sixty other loggers of the Chippewa Lumber and Boom Company witnessed the accident from the shore and quickly launched another batteau to attempt rescue.

Chippewa County Historical Society
Historic Sign #4