Douglas Keith Harris attempted to save Steven A. Herndon from drowning, Clarkston, Washington, June 16, 1968. A pickup truck driven by their mother and containing Steven, 2, his sister Cathrine G. Herndon, and their six-year-old sister rolled down a steep bank into the Snake River, where it began drifting downstream in the strong current. Harris, 35, structural ironworker, and Robert Donald Scott were driving by and learned of the situation. Each removed his shoes and entered the water. Harris began swimming toward the mother but decided she was drifting too fast. He returned to the bank, ran 600 feet along it, and re-entered the water. Harris swam to near the mother and then noticed Steven 10 feet away, floating just under the surface. Swimming to Steven, who was 100 feet from the bank in water about eight feet deep, Harris began towing him across the current. By the time he reached the bank, Harris had been carried downstream 750 feet and was fatigued. Meanwhile Scott had swum to Cathrine, who then was just beneath the surface in water about eight feet deep 100 feet from the bank. Towing Cathrine across the current, Scott tired; and by the time he reached the bank he had been carried 900 feet downstream. Steven could not be revived. Cathrine recovered. The mother and her other daughter drowned.
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