Oklahoma Woman Is Killed Near Durkee
Second Fatal Accident to Tourists on Old Oregon Trail in This Section Within a Week
A second fatal accident occurred on the Old Oregon Trail between Union and Huntington late Saturday afternoon when Mrs. R.C. Schweiger was killed when the car in which she and her husband were driving overturned a short distance west of Durkee.
They were from Waukomis, Okla. The other one occurred the previous Wednesday on this side of the viaduct near Telocaset when Mrs. George Van Oredol of Salina, Kan., met instant death when the car she was driving skidded in the gravel on the side of the highway and overturned almost into the gravel pile.
Mrs. Schweiger’s sister, Miss Irene Schweiger of Oklahoma City, sustained scalp wounds and his daughter, Betty Jo, 13, suffered a compound fracture of the right arm, according to a Baker report of the accident. The injured persons were taken to a Baker hospital where they are recovering. Mr. Schweigers condition was considered critical because of head injuries, but he was improved at later reports.
The Oklahoma residents had been on a vacation and were enroute home when the accident occurred.
According to the Democrat-Herald, officers reported that the car operated by Mr. Schweiger had been gradually driven off the right hand side of the road and for 39 feet along the burrow pit. The car overturned, struck the ground about 24 feet away, smashed a metal culvert under the road, overturned again and hit the ground again about 40 feet away. it then righted itself and struck the ground on all four wheels 18 feet away. The machine, which was demolished in the crash, traveled 265 feet from the time it left the road until it stopped.
Mrs. Schweiger was thrown several feet from the car and is said to have been killed instantly.
Relatives of Mrs. Schweiger, who arrived in Baker late Sunday night from Portland, said apparently Mr. Schweiger went asleep at the wheel just before the accident occurred.
Dr. V.S. Ison, county coroner, said no inquest was necessary as the death of Mrs. Schweiger was due to an accident.
Mr. Schweiger is principal of the high school at Waukomia, and his sister is a nurse in an Oklahoma City hospital.
North Powder News
Friday, August 31, 1934