When tugboat Captain John Wallace brought the Hassayampa over to bring the scow back to shore, it broke loose and began floating downriver rapidly towards the falls.
When the US Coast Guard arrived, they managed to send a lifeline over to the barge, and both marooned men made it safely back to shore via breeches buoy, 17 hours after they first found themselves drifting towards the falls.
The work of riverman William "Red" Hill Sr. was particularly significant; he ventured out to free the tangled breeches buoy line several times throughout the night, and eventually assisted the men to safety.
[citation needed] These record high flows shifted the historic iron scow off the rock outcrop, allowing it to drift closer to the edge of the falls.
[5] The scow floated an estimated 50 yards (46 m) downriver, and the wreck seemed to have "flipped on its side and spun around", according to a source at the Niagara Parks Commission.
A 2014 report stated that some people claim that some of its metallic parts (such as the boilers and propeller shaft) are still visible at times when a significant quantity of water is being diverted for hydropower production.