1881:

At half past four in the afternoon the lookout at Station Number 11 Eleventh District (Chicago, Illinois), observed a small boat with one man in it capsize on Lake Michigan about a mile south of the station.  The life- saving crew put off with all the haste possible to the rescue, but before they could reach the spot the man had been picked up by a passing boat and was safe.  They righted the boat, however, and bailed it out and towed it ashore all right.