# 1953: Pit River Bridge Rescue



## HazyDavey (Sep 15, 2017)

One of the most memorable pictures of all time

1953: PIT RIVER BRIDGE RESCUE

 Paul Overby, one of two drivers trapped in the cab of a tractor trailer, is pulled to safety by a rope on the Pit River Bridge across Shasta Lake near Redding, California on May 3. 1953 
 Virginia Schau, an amateur photographer, took this dramatic image; of a truck driver being rescued from his cab which was dangling over the edge of a bridge in California, with her Kodak Brownie. Her photograph won the prestigious Pulitzer prize for photography in 1954



Paul Overby, one of two drivers trapped in the cab of a truck, is pulled to safety by a rope on the Pit River Bridge, over Shasta Lake, California on 3 May 1953. Overby and co-driver Hank Baum were rescued moments before the cab crashed and burned on the rocks below. Virginia Schau was on a fishing trip when she saw the accident, she grabbed her camera as her husband and another motorist rescued the drivers. Schau's photo won the $10 prize in the Sacramento Bee's weekly photo contest as well as making her the first woman and second amateur to win the Pulitzer Prize for photography


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