Dakota Datebook: Titanic impact in N.D.

In 1912, on April 13, passengers aboard the doomed ship Titanic were unaware of what fate waited for them. One day more, and the ship would sink, taking with it approximately 1,500 lives.

The disaster impacted people the world over. Even North Dakota, far removed from the perils of the ocean, was deeply affected. E.W. Chaffee, a businessman and farmer of Aneta, was returning from a European vacation with his wife, Carrie, onboard the Titanic. Although his wife survived, he did not, and his body was never found or identified. Oskar Hedman,

from Beach, had third-class passage aboard the ship, and managed to survive.

There were other stories, though-such as the near miss case of Dr. and Mrs. McCannel from Minot. They had been away from home for a long time, visiting Vienna and other parts of Europe in 1911 and 1912, so when it was finally time to depart, they made arrangements to hurry their voyage home. They planned to travel on the Titanic, but the ship's schedule changed, and they were forced to book passage on the Carmenia, instead. They were disappointed to miss traveling aboard the ship they had heard so much about, but they were anxious to get home.

Onboard their ship, the McCannels ran into the field of icebergs that would later sink the Titanic. Dr. McCannel took a photo of one of the larger ones – it was tall, with a point rising some 200 feet above the surface of the water. The ship cut its engines until they drifted clear of the hazard. They heard no more about the icebergs or the famous ship until April 15, when they read about the tragedy in the newspapers.

For years afterward, Dr. McCannel wondered if the fatal iceberg that sank the Titanic, described as having a "spire like a cathedral," was the same one he had taken a picture of, which hung thereafter on his office wall.

The stories and the feelings survive, evident in the scholarship, the history and the memories. Even today, we can understand the relief the McCannels must have felt when, after they arrived at home, a Scottish friend said to them, "Your time had na come."