Patterson Cemetery District, Stanislaus County, CA 

Submitted by Gale Stroud and Burta Herger 26 Aug 2007

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Beck Christian 380930 p2
Hollister Man Drowned in San Joaquin River; Christian Beck, 73 year old Hollister resident, was drowned in the San
Joaquin River Friday evening, when he presumably slipped from a steep bank into the stream. His two companions, John
Huckaby and H. C. McClure, fishing but a few feet away, heard only a slight splash.  Investigating, they saw evidence of
his fall and immediately summoned help, notifying the coroner s office at Modesto at the same time. No trace of the man
could be found that evening.  His hat was discovered some fifty feet down the river and at noon on Sunday, his body was
found caught in a clump of willows at the same spot. The search was conducted by Arnold Davis and Deputy Coroner M.
M. Soll with great difficulty, owing to the presence of many snags and logs in the river at that point.  A long pole, with
hook attached, finally caught on the dead man s clothes and he was raised to the surface.
Weekend Outing; The three men had motored here from Hollister for a weekend outing and had established their camp
about a mile north of the Hills Ferry bridge, on the west bank of the river.  Shortly before eight o clock, Beck left his two
companions to go to the camp site.  On the way, he either stumbled or slipped, sliding down the steep bank to the water.
The river makes a decided turn at  that point, with a swift current some twenty feet deep flowing there.  The body was
found some sixty feet below where the fall occurred, in about eight feet of water.