There are fish stories, and then there are fish stories! It’s hard to beat this whopper published with tongue-in-cheek by the New York Times on March 8, 1885. The story goes like this:
“The recent frightful accident which happened to a stage in Southern Oregon cannot fail to call attention of the state authorities to the necessity of protecting settlers against attacks of salmon.
“The stage in question was crossing Applegate Creek when it was suddenly attacked by a drove of salmon. The stage was instantly overturned and the hungry fish swarmed over it, while the stage driver, with great presence of mind, cut the traces of the horses and throwing himself across the off-wheel horse, a powerful animal, formerly the property of Doctor Goodrich of Olympia, managed to escape. The dispatch which conveys to us that painful story says nothing of the fate of the stage passengers but, unfortunately, there is every reason to believe that they fell victim to the salmon.”
The New York Times gave no explanation for its flight of fancy, but it asserted that “Oregon loses as many inhabitants yearly by salmon as India loses by tigers.”
Source: "Oregon Salmon." New York Times 8 Mar. 1885, Sunday ed.: 6. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
