Just before dusk on New Year’s Day, park employees received a telephone call from a distraught park neighbor who had been illegally driving his truck on the frozen Knife River within the park. The truck had evidently broken through the ice and was sitting on the bottom of the shallow riverbed. He’d attempted to pull it out with a second truck, but it also broke through the ice. Due to safety concerns and the lateness of the day, it was determined that the vehicles would have to be removed the following day. The temperature the next morning was -9 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind was blowing, resulting in the trucks being cemented into place in the frozen river. Extrication of the vehicles was difficult due to the high river bluffs and the weakened ice along the river’s corridor. Eventually, a commercial tow truck with 170 feet of cable was staged on the nearest bluffs, ice was removed from around the frozen vehicles with a chainsaw, and a canal was cut to the closest riverbank. The trucks were then pulled out of the ice and up the bluffs using a tractor and the tow truck. Special care was required in removing them because of the close proximity of Taylor Bluff, a significant cultural site. A nearly identical incident occurred on New Year’s Day of 2004. Although lessons learned resulted in two years of incident free river activity, recent investigations reveal that local residents have been challenging each other to driving on the frozen river for years, with boasting rights as their prizes. Citations were issued to all parties involved.
