01/31/2026
The long forgotten Ice Bridge Tragedy February 28th, 1886.
George Dewitt was a merchant broker of sorts from New York City. Returning from Chicago after a most succesfull buisness trip, George decided to stop off in Buffalo N.Y. on the return trip. A rare occasion with some leisure time, he checked into the Broezel House Hotel, booking an overnight stay for Saturday and Sunday. With plans of boarding a NYC bound train Monday morning, it was an opportune time for him to satisfy his couriosity. While reading a local newspaper he learned about fun and frolic on the ice bridge below Niagara Falls and wanted to experience it for himself He arrived from Buffalo via the Michigan Central at about 115 p.m. on Sunday Feb. 28th 1886. and immediately hired a local hack and rode down to see the Whirlpool. After a quick visit there , the hack driver was instructed to ride him up to Prospect Park where he disembarking at the head of the Incline. Purchasing a ticket from McCloy and inquiring how long a visit would take, he proceeded to the bottom of the gorge to the ice bridge where he rented a pair of heavy creepers and exchanged his hat for a rubber cap from local Ice bridge attendant and guide Conroy. Although a guide for hire was available to him, Dewitt decided against hiring one as an es**rt, as it was not considered all that necessary. As he stepped onto the ice there were at the time several people in and around the ice mountain below the falls and nobody seemingly paid him any attention. Instead of "creeping" to the top of the Ice mountain, he decided to pass between it and the river bank in a direction toward the Falls. Between the mound and the Falls was a crevice looking as if a portion of the mountain had cracked off. Crossing this he kept on toward the edge, to an area where the spray from the falls had worn it away, leaving an unsuspecting thin shelf of ice. Tragically and without warning it suddenly gave way beneath his feet,causing George to fall down almost 40 feet into a bed of slush and broken ice. The first indication received by Ice bridge Attendant Conroy that something was amiss, was relayed to him by a young lad whom while standing atop the Ice mountain,. saw the victim crash through the ice and disappear. Conroy immediately rode to the top of the Incline to inform McCloy of the incident and together they went over to the edge of the river bank as to have the advantage of scanning the area by sight from above. While conducting their scan, they were approached by a stranger who had witnessed the accident from that same locale, and stated that after the victims initial fall, he got up, staggered backwards and fell into an ice hole or crevice,. and that after doing so, tons of ice came crashing down on top of him. This report of the event was cause enough for McCloy and Conroy to spring into immediate action. While someone kept a watch from above, they procured ropes and a rope ladder and prepared to make a descent over the edge, however the weather, spray and a wind out of the south west made this task most dangerous and impossible to conduct. After several inquiries were made, it was suspected that the victim was as man from New York City by the name of G. DeWitt aged 35, who was staying at the Broezel House Hotel in Buffalo N.Y. A clerk from aforementioned Hotel arrived the next day for the purpose of ascertaining what he could about the incident and went away perfectly satisfied that it was indeed Dewitt who fell into the fatal chasm, and believes the sad incident was purely accidental. By Thursday the following week, (Mar. 7th.) ice shifts and melts created a situation causing the lifeless body to finally be visible from the river bank above, and it was seen to be laying on its left side facing the falls. The knowledge of this fact created quite a stir throughout the local community as curiosity seekers lined the bank while being subjected to the heavy spray of the falls, with the hopes of getting a glimpse, .Superintendent Welsh was still at a loss as to how to extract the body from its most dangerous location. The idea of using ropes and a rope ladder to scale down the bank in order to retrieve it was thought by many the best way to proceed. and several volunteers were willing to make a heroes attempt for as little as fifty cents. |Welsh would have none of it and called local explosive expert C. Reisig. With access to the Ice bridge completely shut down and with the assistance of McCloy and Conroy, eleven one pound cartridges were strategically placed and ignited. However, no desired results were even remotely achieved. After much great debate, Welsh came to the conclusion that the best way to extract the body from its frozen grave was going to be achieved with the construction of a tunnel through the ice mountain, and so on Saturday morning March 9th., a crew of 10 men including McCloy and Conory began a most daunting task. After digging a tunnel 60 feet long through solid ice and packed snow which measured 51/2 feet high and 1 1/2 feet wide, a shaft then had to be built which was about 20 feet deep and 4 feet in diameter. Oddly enough that same day the recovery tasks began, a well dressed visitor in Niagara Falls Ontario attend to the Cedar Island bridge above the Falls on the Canadian side and threw himself into the swift current and plunged over the Horseshoe to his death) The men worked from dawn to dusk everyday until Tuesday March 12th when at about 9 a.m the lifeless body of G. Dewitt was finally extracted and removed to the Shadow of the Rock building. The coroner attended at the Shadow of the Rock building and quickly called a jury to examine the body, before an inquest that would take place later that morning at the Town Hall. During this examination there was no doubt that the man was immediately killed by the ice which fell on top of him after he did. The Gazette reported that the top of his head was crushed off taking away nearly all the brain. In his pockets were 3 five dollar bills and almost 5 dollars in change. He had in his possession a gold plated pocket watch, along with some personal papers and business cards which read "L.G. DeWitt-Merchant Broker- N.Y.C." Later that day, the coroner received a telegram and arrangements were being made to place the deceased in the families care. This incident has got to be one of the most difficult Niagara River recovery operations I have ever read about. The entire incident began on Saturday February 28th and ended at long last on the morning of March 12th.
Sources: Buffalo News
Photo: Christine Clark Hess
