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James L. Fly
Fort Towson Enterprise – August 18, 1916 – transcribed by Ron Henson

Struck a Log in Diving and Broke His Neck
    James L. Fly, a young Choctaw Indian, whose home is at Swink, lived several hours with a broken neck, finally dying in Paris, where he was taken for surgical treatment. While he was in swimming last Saturday evening he made a dive and his head struck against a log under water. A companion who was standing on the log felt him hit it and he was jolted off. The force of the contact is thought to have jarred the log loose from whatever was holding it under water and when the boy who was standing on it jumped off it ducked under young Fly and picked him up and bobbed to the surface with him stretched out on top of the log.
    He called out to his companions; “Boys, I’m paralyzed.” When they took him out on the bank he was absolutely helpless, being unable to move hand or foot. His father took him to Paris on the 8 o’clock train Saturday night and an X ray examination showed that his neck was broken. Nothing could be done to save his life and he died at 7:40 o’clock Sunday morning. The body was brought back to Swink on the 4:00 o’clock train Sunday afternoon and laid to rest in the cemetery at that place.