Pikes Creek Tragedy

The derailment took place less than a year after the railroad's Bayfield branch was completed. Pikes Creek, normally a small, meandering stream, was running exceptionally high that day after almost a week of heavy rain. During the morning, a small section of track washed out about one-quarter mile south of Bayfield. News was telegraphed to Washburn, the next station south, and just after noon, the railroad dispatched a work train, with three flatcars loaded with logs and other supplies, and a work crew of twenty-two men. With no caboose or crew car, the men rode wherever they found room: some on the flatcars, some crowded into the locomotive cab, and two rode on the cowcatcher. == Victims ==

The eventual death toll amounted to ten, including the train's engineer, conductor, and brakeman, along with seven men of the track crew. Some died instantly, others lingered one or more days. The injured were taken to Ashland's two small hospitals, taxing their capacities to the limit. A local dentist organized a house-to-house collection for bedding and other supplies, while women formed sewing bees to make quilts and bedding for the victims. ==Legacy==

The accident, quickly dubbed the "Pikes Creek Tragedy", received coast-to-coast news coverage in articles that varied considerably in sensationalism and accuracy. A local history published in 1929 described the event in detail, but by 2023, according to one local historian, the wreck had become all but forgotten, and its location obscured by highway construction. That year, an ad hoc citizens group raised funds to place a marker near the site of the incident. == References ==