The Bay Mills Ojibwe History Department wishes to make a correction. The Simon Teeple pictured with the article, “Simon Teeple lost in snowstorm of 1927,” in the Jan. 29 issue of Bay Mills News, was in fact another Simon Teeple, not the Simon who was lost in the storm.
Barbara Teeple, niece of the Simon Teeple who was lost in the storm, called the Bay Mills News to say that the Simon pictured must be a different Simon Teeple. Barb was surprised to hear that there were two Simon Teeples who served in the Navy.
Her uncle's siblings were her father Perry and her Aunt Mable. This Simon was actually a Richardson who took the name Teeple.
The story was otherwise correct. We are sorry we don't have a picture of Simon Richardson Teeple to go with the article.
Barb also remembers hearing from her father that Simon was going to the Post Office in Raco to cash his retirement check and to get groceries. He was going to bring back oranges for the baby (Barbara).
Following are the actual accounts as printed in the Soo Evening News back in 1927.
Feb. 10, 1927 (Thursday)
FIND NO TRACE OF MISSING MAN; Simeon Teeple, Mission, Believed Frozen to Death
No trace of Simon Teeple, Indian Mission man, lost since February 1, on the road somewhere between Dollar Settlement and the Mission, had been found at noon today although several parties of searchers from the Settlement, Mission and Brimley had scoured the highway since Wednesday afternoon.
It is believed that Teeple froze to death the night of February 1, as he was attempting to walk the seven miles between the Settlement and the Mission.
Teeple had been working at Raco. A week ago Tuesday he started for his home at the Mission. he rode with friends in a sleigh to Dollar Settlement and then started to walk home. Teeple was no missed until Wednesday,. Relatives at the Mission believed that he was still working at Raco and friends at Raco believed that he had arrived home.
Unless he met with foul play, it is though that Teeple was overcome by the cold and storm and that his body is covered by snow. The night is covered by the snow. the night he attempted to walk to the Mission was cold and wind was blowing drifts across the Dollar Settlement road.
The searching parties are being directed by Deputy Rand Wilson.
Teeple was unmarried and about 42 years old. He was a reserve naval engineer.
Feb. 14, 1927 (Monday)
NEW TRACES OF SIMEON TEEPLE; Searchers Find The Place Where He Lay in Snow. But No Success in Finding Body Has Obtained.
With new clues to help them in their effort to find Simeon Teeple, Indian Mission man who has been missing for two weeks, a large searching party this morning was scouring the woods north of the main Dollar Settlement road.
Part of a searching party of 25 men Sunday picked up a trail believed to be that of Teeple, a half mile north from the Dollar Settlement Road. There were indentations in the deep snow where the man had lain down to rest and had risen and plodded along in the snow again. As on Friday night, tracks were lost in darkness and the search was abandoned for the day.
The place where Teeple had lain in the snow to rest was five and a half miles from the Indian Mission and about three quarters of a mile from the nearest house, the home of Joseph Cuthbert.
Several men of the searching party Sunday were sent by the Cadillac Soo Lumber camp near the settlement. Most of the searchers were Brimley, Mission and Settlement residents.
Teeple disappeared the night of February 1 when he attempted to walk from the Settlement to the Mission, a distance of seven miles, during a blinding snow storm.
Feb. 15, 1927 (Tuesday)
TEEPLE SEARCH IS ABANDONED; New Snow Discourages large Searching Party; Second Place Where he Had Lain Seen Monday
Search for Simeon Teeple, 40, missing since Feb. 1 when he left Dollar Settlement in a snow storm for his home at the mission, seven miles distant, was abandoned today, the searching party of 30 friends and neighbors becoming discouraged last night following an all-day beating of the hardwood forest into which his tracks led before obliterated by the recent snows.
A second place in the snow where Teeple had lain down, apparently from exhaustion, was found Monday afternoon, but tracks, away from the pace had become covered. There is little belief that the man escaped with his life.
Last night's snow has caused added despair at finding the body until the spring thaw, a months hence.
March 14, 1927
TEEPLE'S BODY FOUND IN SNOW; Man, Missing Since Feb. 1 Victim of Exposure; Was Lying Face Downward Mile From Mission Hill.
Uncovered by the melting snow, the body of Simeon Teeple, retired naval engineer, was discovered a mile southwest of Spectacle Lake at 3 p.m. Sunday by Floyd Teeple and Francis DeBane.
Teeple was missing since Feb. 1 when he attempted to walk the seven miles between Dollar Settlement and the Mission during a driving snow storm. His disappearance did not alarm friends until February 10 when search began.
Teeple had gone from Raco to the Settlement with a party of friends and as night was approaching he began the hike to his old home at the Mission. For more than a week relatives at the Mission believed Teeple was at Raco and the friends at the Settlement thought Teeple had reached home.
Searches by Settlement, Mission and Brimley men revealed only traces of the lost man. It was found where he had attempted a short cut in the Mission, where he had fallen in the snow and where he had attempted to build a fire. Due to heavy snow storms between the time Teeple disappeared and the time search began hope was given up.
Sunday a party of relatives and friends again searched in hope that with but a few inches of snow remaining in the woods the body would be found. At 3 p.m. Sunday the party stumbled on the body. The body lay face down, 500 feet from the road leading from Dollar Settlement Road to Mission Hill, along which Teeple had attempted to shorten his journey. His cap was found stuffed in his hip pocket.
The body was taken to the Mission. It is improbable that the funeral will be public.
Teeple was 43 years old and had been working at odd jobs since he was retired from the United States Navy. He served in the Navy for 18 years as an engineer. He was unmarried. One brother Terry and a half sister, Mrs. Jennie Richards of Sault, Ont., survive.
