On March 29, 1869, two soldiers and a young boy pushed a small boat into the icy waters of Newport Harbor.
The soldiers needed passage to the nearby Fort Adams and the boy told them he knew how to navigate the turbulent waters of the harbor quickly and safely. The trio hadn’t been at sea for very long when a snowstorm descended upon Rhode Island.
The waves became more and more choppy and soon, the boat overturned. The boy was quickly lost, succumbing to the freezing waters. The soldiers managed to grab hold of the upside down boat and clung to it, helplessly.
From the shore, a twelve-year-old girl saw the capsized boat and knew immediately what she needed to do. Running to her own boat without pausing to put on her coat or shoes, the girl rushed into the dangerous harbor and rowed towards the dying men.
That girl was Ida Lewis.