Looking back: Man saves woman from being ran over by train and search underway for missing Soda Springs couple

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of May 12 to May 18 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

BLACKFOOT — A woman was saved moments before a train nearly ran her over in Blackfoot, The Bingham County News reported on May 18, 1911.

Mrs. Tina Gorley, who was described as someone who was badly crippled and could only walk with the help of crutches, was walking across the tracks between two sections of a freight train.

Without warning, the train backed up, striking and knocking her down. A man by the name of Mr. Hodson was standing nearby and saw what happened. He rushed over to help Gorley and pulled her out from beneath the train.

The paper said if it wasn’t for Hodson, Gorley would have been seriously injured or killed.

1926-1950

HEISE — Three slot machines were stolen at Heise after a suspicious phone call, The Rigby Star reported on May 12, 1938.

A young man reportedly called Sheriff Fillmore and asked if it was unlawful to steal a slot machine. Fillmore told the young man it was property and it was “certainly unlawful.”

Fillmore asked the person on the phone why he was asking that question and where he was calling from. The man said it was to settle an argument and that he was calling from Heise.

Shortly after their phone call, Fillmore was notified by phone that three slot machines had been stolen from Heise and that the suspects were driving a new Dodge car.

It’s not clear if the suspects were ever captured.

1951-1975

LEWISVILLE — A Lewisville man was seriously injured after his tractor tipped over, The Rigby Star reported on May 14, 1953.

Joe Erickson was hurt while plowing and helping his son whose tractor had become stuck in the sand. In an attempt to pull out the tractor in the sand with his tractor and harrow that was attached, Erickson somehow ended up pinned beneath his own tractor.

Erickson’s clothing became saturated in gasoline but no explosion occurred. He was dug out from beneath the tractor by his son. A doctor was quickly summoned and he was taken by ambulance to the Sacred Heart Hospital in Idaho Falls.

Erickson broke both pelvis bones, the ball and socket of one hip was dislocated, an arm was broken in two places and he had gashes on his legs and a badly scraped kneecap.

“With his multiple injuries, Joe is exhibiting his usual grit, and his many friends are wishing him a complete recovery,” the article reads. “His condition is as good as can be expected at this time.”

1976-2000

SODA SPRINGS — A search was underway for a Soda Springs couple who was presumed to have crashed in an airplane, The Caribou County Sun reported on May 12, 1977.

Jay and Martha Hale reportedly went missing while in a single engine aircraft on a flight from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Soda Springs. The Hale’s were flying with Mr. and Mrs. Paul Corn, friends from California.

The plane left Rapid City Wednesday morning. After attempts to find their whereabouts by telephone failed, efforts to locate the couples began Saturday.

Radio contact was reported with the airplane Wednesday morning by a weather station at Lander, Wyoming. That was the last contact with the aircraft.

Scott Air Force Base in Illinois was coordinating search efforts for the plane. Efforts were centered around the mountain area in Wyoming.

The Civil Air Patrol established a base at Big Piney to conduct the search. Air search was in progress by the Department of Aeronautics and the Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado Civil Air Patrols.

Several local pilots and aircrafts were involved in search operations Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before a storm halted the search.