Marshall News Messenger, Fr. 17 July 1896: Dragged to Death
A terrible accident occurred a few miles south east of Marshall on Tuesday afternoon, whereby two little girls were killed and another severely bruised. A son of Jos. Balthozar, living six miles from town, has been herding cattle for John Gaffney, and last Tuesday while near the home of Gaffney, and of his father, which is also the home of Fred Dandurand, two of his little sisters and a little girl of Dandurand's came out to play with him. In play he tied one end of a picket rope to each of their waists, knotting the rope, the other end being fastened to the saddle on the pony. The boy, who is about 11 years old, says they meant to play as they had done before, and he was to ride the pony, leading the other children about at the end of the rope, but before the boy mounted, and as he turned to look at his herd, the pony became frightened and starting to run the little girls were thrown to the ground, and the boy was unable to stop the pony. The pony ran, dragging the three children over the rough ground, several rods, to Gaffney's house. Mrs. Gaffney saw them and called her husband who ran out and caught the pony, and cut loose the children, but the two younger children, four or five years old, daughters of Balthozar and Dandurand, were seriously injured, their arms and legs being broken and their heads crushed. One of the children died before a doctor could be brought from town, the other surviving but a very few minutes after the doctor's arrival, while the third and oldest child, also a daughter of Balthozar, was only slightly injured. The funeral occurred on the following day, and the children were buried in the Catholic Cemetery west of Marshall.