Team of Horses Breaks Through Ice (1910)

Animals Driven By Frank Freeman Narrowly Escape Drowning.
Lake Bemidji is still unsafe for teams.
After making six trips with tamarac wood from Diamond point to the north end of the lake and returning in safety, Frank Freeman’s heavily loaded team broke the ice yesterday while returning for the seventh load.
The horses were saved from drowning only through their quick response to Mr. Freeman’s voice. Large cracks have shown up all over the lake since Saturday night and it was while crossing one of the fissures that a cake of ice thirteen by thirty feet broke off with the weight of the team, and sank.
Mr. Freeman with the aid of the two men with him cut some spruce trees and stood them up around the space as a warning to others to avoid the dangerous place. (Dec 20, 1910)