Suspicious Deaths of Philias Turgeon & His Cousin
Bodies still not found...(click to enlarge)
Phileas Turgeon's cousin's body was recovered (click to enlarge)
Another news account of Trechy's recovery (click to enlarge)
Three weeks later, our ancestor's body was recovered (click to enlarge)
Suspicious death. (click to enlarge)
His brothers suspected foul play. (click to enlarge).
Turgeon & Trachy drowning (click to enlarge)
Bijou Hills - click to enlarge.
Bijou Hills breaks along the Missouri River, click to enlarge.
Philias Turgeon Death
Our ancestor, Philias Turgeon, drowned in the Missouri River while salvaging an over-turned wagon. Was treachery involved? In a Turgeon reunion someone suggested Phil was killed by one of his brothers, or perhaps he was ambushed from a nearby bluff. Some relatives speak of this incident with hushed tones suggesting foul play was afoot.
This story passed down through our generation with no rumors of malice. The facts as we know it are as follows:
Horses were pulling a goods-filled wagon across the Missouri River when the ice cracked. The wagon fell through the ice and the horses swam to safety. Later, Phil and his cousin, John Trachy, found a skiff and paddled over to the sinking wagon. They began moving cargo off the wagon and onto the skiff. Someone fell off the skiff. Perhaps John did. John could not swim and we assume Phil tried pulling John back into the boat. Unfortunately, both ended up in the freezing water. What happened next is not certain. As with so many similar incidents, we suspect one person dragged the other under water where both drowned.
Possibly no one was onshore to see these events unfolding. At least that is not part of the known story. Relatives saw the half-submerged wagon and skiff while searching for Phil and John. Bits of clothing and debris floated to shore. So they knew something awful happened, but exactly what happened could not be determined right away.
Early news reports suggested that "some quarters" thought the entire incident smelled of murder most foul. Who thought this? The Turgeon brothers thought Phil was murdered since he was known to carry a pocketbook filled with money. The brothers pooled their money together and put up a $1000 reward for Phil's body and any information about his death.
Several weeks later John's body was found floating in the Missouri River just upriver from Fort Randall dam. Although badly decomposed, his body could still be recognized. John's relatives, possibly Turgeon relatives, claimed his body and buried him in Platte, South Dakota. Phil's body did not surface for several months, and was also badly decomposed when found. Phil was not identified through DNA testing, dental records or by any tool used in modern forensic science. He was identified by the gold watch and pocketbook found on his body. This was the same pocketbook the Turgeon brothers feared had been stolen. News reports do not say whether money was found in this pocketbook. How these objects remained with the body is a mystery.
Additional Notes: Dad's story was that the horses were spooked by a rifle shot, and they ran the wagon into the river. In his story, Phileas tried to stop the team. One interesting element of Tim's story is that "the horses swam to safety". The only way this would happen if someone unhitched the horses from the wagon. I don't think the water was that deep, especially since they went back later to retrieve the contents from the wagon and put it on the skiff. So the question is that even if they fell off the skiff, they could have minimally got on top of the wagon or even waded to shore. So the drowning does seem a little suspicious.
Geddes, South Dakota, click to enlarge.
Fort Randall, circa 1960. click to enlarge.
Issuing supplies at Fort Randall, Click to enlarge.