Rescuing the Keeper's Daughter

by Bob Mackreth

Keeper James Bard and his children on Devils
Island, 1933. Marjorie is at upper right.

On September 30, 1939, sixteen-year-old Marjorie Bard was scrubbing the stairway in her family's Devils Island home when she fell and fractured her hip. Her father, lighthouse keeper James Bard, used the light station's primitive two-way radio to call for help.

Since the nearest Coast Guard cutter was reported to be at far off at Isle Royale, three crewmen from the Duluth station volunteered to respond in a small, open boat. Setting out at 9:30 pm, the men battled strong southwest winds throughout their 75-mile journey.

One half-hour before they reached Devils Island, they learned that the large cutter Diligence had finally intercepted the radio calls and arrived at the scene to aid the girl. So close to their destination, the Duluth Coastguardsmen continued on and landed on the island to help.

Lighthouse personnel and Coast Guardsmen placed Marjorie on a bedspring, and carried her one mile down the trail to the south landing. From there, the cutter took her to Ashland and medical attention.

Marjorie eventually recovered from her injuries, but before she returned to the island, her father was transferred to another station. It was not until more than half a century later that she set foot again on Devils Island. In 1997, one year before she passed away, Marjorie Bard Coon and her husband Lester visited Devils Island on a National Park Service boat.

***

The great distance from medical aid presented a significant problem when injuries occurred to lighthouse keepers and families. Miss Bard was not the only person to suffer a severe fall on Devils Island. In June, 1934, the Bayfield County Press reported,

Lee Stanton, first assistant at Devils Island light station, was critically injured at the island Tuesday. Mr. Stanton and Mr. Hessing were working on the roof of the station, when Mr. Stanton fell from the roof and struck on cement…. It is feared he suffered a skull fracture, broken collar bone, broken pelvic bone, broken ribs and serious internal injuries. Little hope is held for his recovery.

Contrary to the press reports, Stanton did in fact survive, but he never resumed his position at the lighthouse.

Keepers' Dwellings, Devils Island

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