Large death tolls rare in Maine Boat accidents taking 17, 21 lives occurred in 1920, 1899

CHESUNCOOK LAKE – A common grave in Greenville and a few old news clippings are among the records of a horrific boating accident on Chesuncook Lake that took the lives of 17 men more than eight decades ago.

On Nov. 18, 1920, 35 rugged men boarded a boat at Chesuncook Dam for a trip up the lake and on to Cuxabexis Stream where they planned to work at a Great Northern Paper Co. lumbering operation. Most of the men hailed from Russia, Poland, Finland and Canada. Others in the group were from the East Coast, including Maine.

Piloted by Alec Gunn of Greenville, the boat and its occupants had gone about 20 miles up the lake when the engine backfired, causing the gasoline tank to explode. The flames drove the men overboard into the cold waters of Chesuncook Lake.

Eighteen men, including the pilot, either swam to shore or clung to the sides of the craft and were rescued when the boat drifted to shore. The flames of the burning boat attracted the attention of other lumberjacks in the region, who helped search for the missing men.

Bangor Daily News accounts and information provided by the Moosehead Historical Society reported that one Polish man showed considerable presence of mind by jumping overboard with his pack on his back and some matches in his hat to keep them dry. When he reached shore about a mile away, he built a fire that warmed him and other survivors.

Seventeen others, however, were not so lucky. Since many of the victims had no relatives in the country, they were buried in a common grave in Greenville.

NEWS records revealed another accident in northern and eastern Maine in which a number of lives were lost. In the summer of 1899, 21 people died “by the breaking of the slip while excursionists were boarding [the Mount Desert ferry] for a trip to Bar Harbor.”