Amanda Howell was the daughter of Orestes Howell of Hell Cove, WHB. She was born in 1896 and is said to have had a rough life living with her father and stepmother who were both very strict and stern with her. Late in the afternoon of Sept 27, 1911, she left to walk to Trout River to spend some time with her sister (Eloshia) and brother (Aubrey) without telling anyone where she was going. While walking through the Gulch that evening, she strayed off the path to Trout River and onto another path that took her down toward the brook that is now known as Wallace’s Brook. Before long she was completely lost in the darkness.
When she didn’t return that evening, a search was made of the community, but no one had seen Amanda. The next morning the search spread out to Trout River and to the Gulch. Day after day passed without results and hope of finding her alive was starting to slip away. On the 11th day after someone had a dream that she was out near the ocean, she was found in the area of Green gardens near the beach, alive but in bad physical and mental condition. She was taken ot WP to the house of Mr. Prebble when a Dr. Morley examined her. She had terrible wounds to her feet and legs and gangrene had already set in. While there she revived enough to tell some of her story in a rambling sort of way.
She said she came across a camp across a brook and spent the first night there. The second day she walked along the shore and found another camp where she spent one or two nights. She tells of walking along the shore and how the sea washed her out and brought her back to the beach again and how she tried to climb up a hill but fell backwards with big rocks following her. She said she finally got to the top of the hill and went up a brook and stayed by the side of the brook all night. It was that night she saw the lights of the coastal steamer “Portia” and the lighthouse in Rocky Harbour. The next thing she remembered was being found by a Mr. Coombs, Mr. Mercer, Mr. Brown and Mr. Pittman. She said her mother who had been dead for years covered her up each night.
After receiving medical treatment in Woody Point she was taken to St. John’s hospital as quickly as possible. There she lost both legs due to her wounds, but recovered to return home where she lived several more years with Aubrey in Trout River.
By Charlie Payne
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