In 1849, a Russian Jew by name of Isadore Meyerwitz journeyed to San Francisco from Alabama. Within a year’s time he became acquainted with Peter Lassen. Somewhere along the line, he married an Indian woman, whose name and from what tribe is not known.
Meyerwitz was among the first settlers in the Honey Lake Valley and in 1856 filed a land claim near where Baxter Creek enters Honey Lake. In July 1856, Meyerwitz along with a fellow by the name of Sailor Jack decided to build a sail boat out of a wagon box. It was a a crude affair and some suggested they were crazy to actually launch it. The advice was ignored and Meyerwitz with his wife, Sailor Jack, George Lathrop, R.J. Scott and Daniel Reed decided to take the craft on Honey Lake. They were victimized by strong gusty winds, causing the boat to capsize. Members of the party clung to the boat. Lathrop eventually let go to make an attempt to swim back to shore. After swimming as far as he could, Lathrop gave up in exhaustion. To his amazement when he stopped, he was able to stand up and discovered the water was only waist deep.
Meyerwitz and his wife drowned. They wore themselves out trying to cling to the boat. They could not swim and gave up in despair. Reed, Scott and Sailor Jack survived the incident when the boat drifted ashore. A search party formed a few days later to look for the two missing bodies along the shoreline, but they were never found.