Sec. C Pg 26 Missoulian Centennial Tragic Train Fire Kills Four
Tragic Train Fire Kills Four
Four members of a theatrical troupe en route to Missoula from Spokane to appear in a performance of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” at the Empire Theater here were burned fatally March 16, 1901, when one of two special cars caught fire.
The Northern Pacific train to which the two cars were attached was between Plains and Paradise when the fire started. A cook and two musicians were killed in the blaze and another musician died in Missoula of burns.
Those fatally injured were Minnie Herst, 28, Mitchell, Ind., the cook, and Bert Reed, 22, Columbus, Kan.; Rene Lucasse, 24, Kalamazoo Mich., and John Boelmens, 24, Parkersburg, Iowa, the three musicians. There were 22 persons in the troupe.
A coroner’s jury on March 20, 1901, arrived at a verdict that the deaths of the four persons were caused by the fire in the special car of the Ed F. Davis Uncle Tom’s Cabin Co. and that the blaze was caused by a fire carelessly started in the kitchen stove on the car by Harry Adams of the company.
Serving on the jury were A. J. Violette, Sid J. Coffee, W. H. Beacom, Fred C. Stoddard, W. H. Dolbeer and Emil Turk.