Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1873-01-11
TIE EARTHQUAKE EASTWARD.

Ii appears that our earthquake expe-
rience, on the l4th ult., although il
awakened considerable interest in the
future state, was insignificant compared
to that of our neighbors east of the
mountains, who were forced to believe
ut the time that the end of all things
sublunary had indeed come. The fol.
lowing account is furnished the Portland
Herald by Mr.. Mcbride, an eye-wit.
ness" of the tumult:
The informant, Mr.. Mcbride, and
another man owned ranch some three
miles back from the mouth of she We.
matches river, which is about ITO miles
from Wallula. On the night Of tho 18th
Of last December he and his partne,
had retired and were asleep, when they
were suddenly awakened by noise as il
the stove had been upset. They i'm
mediately sprang from their couch, and
were about donning their clothes, when
they were thrown to the floor in rathe,
a sudden manner. Mr.. Mcbride, who
had experienced the shocks of earth.
quakcs in Valparaiso, June 2, 1851,
and in San Francisco in 1859, now re.
allied the fact that there was an earth.
quake asserting itself. He turned to
his partner and hastily informed him Of
his opinions, advising that they should
leave. They made for the store on the
river, some six miles distant, the ground
undulating in disorderly manner as
they rode along. Arrived at the store
they found everything in confusion.
Messrs. Freer Bros. and one of their
partners, named Miller, had also been
awakened by the shocks and started
from their beds. MIR. Miller ran down
stairs and found the door blocked. He
then imagined that the store had been
attacked by Indians, and shouted to his
partners, who came to his aid with shot
guns and pistols. In the morning nm
examination was made, when it was dis
covered that in the store sacks of flour
which had been piled in four feet deep
were thrown around in confusion. The
two upper logs of the cabin and the
roof were misplaced, and the kitchen
separated from the main building.
The effect outside, Mr.. Mcbride says,
was terrible. He declares that the
shocks, which lasted until five o'clock
Sunday morning, December 18th, We're
sixty-four in number, eight being very
severe. He also says that the peaks OF
several of the hills on the Kititas and
Columbia range of mountains were
hurled over and broken. Trees were
crushed to pieces and the river became
very muddy, raising three feet inside of
ten minutes. Great masses of earth
as if from tremendous landslide,
rushed down the mountain side, mixed
with stone and wood, and tho gulches
lost their identity by being filed with
debris. The third shock, which &C.
CURED about eleven o'clock P. NJ, was
proceeded by an explosion-apparently
on the Notwithstanding like the dis
charge of several pieces of artillery
simultaneously. The people thought
that the entire Grand Tule country was
sinking, and were making preparations
to leave. To add to the general con-
fusion, the Spokane Indians, old and
young, male and female, gathered
around the settlers, alarmed and ex-
claiming that the world was coming to
an end. They asked for advice and
counsel from the whites, interspersing
their sentences with fragments of prayer.
Mr.. Mcbride says the shocks continued
at intervals until the 10Th ult. The en-
tire country was still alarmed and I'M
settled when he left there, fifteen days
ago, to come to Portland.