Rescue of the Alice K Party

Summary

Father Dorotheus Philips, Guy Robie, and four unnamed Indian children were rescued after their launch lost its engine while traveling from Saint James toward Petoskey. The October 1922 Charlevoix County Herald calls the boat a Robie launch and places the drift off Cross; a 1942 retrospective identifies it as the disabled cabin launch Alice K and says the lumber barge Odd Fellow found the party near the Isle Aux Galets lighthouse.

Evidence and limits

The held accounts conflict on important details. The contemporary report uses the spellings “Philips” and “Roble” and describes about three hours of drifting near Cross village and Goodhart. The retrospective uses “Phillips” and “Robie,” describes 36 hours without food, and supplies the launch, rescue barge, and pickup location. The October 5–6 dates are calendrical reconstruction from the retrospective’s October 11, 1922 heading and its Friday-night pickup; the 1922 report does not print a numeric date. The four children remain unnamed, and no exact route, registry details, or relationship among the passengers is inferred.

Open questions

• Which Catholic mission or school records identify Father Dorotheus Philips/Phillips?
• What were the names of the four children, and which Harbor Springs school received them?
• Can a vessel or newspaper record reconcile the Alice K launch’s route and the three-hour versus 36-hour duration?
• What registry or local record identifies the lumber barge Odd Fellow?

See also

• Father Dorotheus Philips (Beaver Islands missionary)
• Guy Robie (1922 rescue)
• Alice K (cabin launch, 1922)
• Odd Fellow (lumber barge, 1922)
• Garden Island