The Stories of My Life

Crossing the Icy River We arrived at the edge of a very wide river that was about a half mile wide. Now that is a serious river in width but I believe it was pretty shallow as it meandered across the flat plains. Dad’s cousin lived just across the river and down a half mile, so we parked the vehicles. There was no traffic because this was actually a ferry boat stop during summer months. Mom and I stayed with the vehicles while Dad walked to the cousin’s house to ask them their advice about crossing the river. I have no idea how Dad knew that his cousin lived within walking distance of where we were at the time but the cousin walked back with Dad and the guys talked about the condition of the ice in relation to driving the two vehicles across. Eventually it was decided to start out with the car. They presumed that it was the lighter of the two and also it had more power and was more maneuverable. By now Mother and I had walked across the ice to be with everyone so Dad decided he would try driving the car over. He walked back, made sure that the truck was locked up, then got in the Durant and edged slowly down to the ice. The bank was not steep at that point, but they had decided that to drive too swiftly would cause a sudden impact and possibly crack the ice. There were no chains or snow tires on the car so he accelerated slowly building up some speed so as not to dawdle with weight of the car in one place. So far so good. He got up to speed and continued with only minor slipping and sliding. Then it started. A crack like a rifle shot, then another and another, but he kept on going while the people on the far bank were all petrified that the ice would let go completely and plunge my Dad into the icy depths of the swiftly flowing river below. Yes, the ice held and Dad made it safely to our side and banged up onto the bank, but the shock also put more weight on the rear wheels, so the car stopped abruptly smashing the ice and leaving the car with the rear wheels about a foot into the water. Dad locked the hand break while the other men rushed to put rocks under the front wheels. Meanwhile, Dad’s cousin ran back to his place to fetch the farm tractor and some chain. Well, it turned out okay; the tractor safely dragged the loaded car to safety way up the river bank. What a day! Needless to say, it was decided to wait a few days before bringing the truck over because a big cold spell was expected that would freeze the river over more, make the ice thicker and make it possible for Dad to drive the truck over. We were not upset by that as we had a good reason to stay a few days longer than we might have, to visit with the cousins who had never seen my Mother or me before. Several days later, the cold spell did come, and a day or two later they went back to the truck, and Dad managed to drive it over with no trouble at all.