The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1903-06-18
FATAL FLOOD
Eastern Oregon Cloud
burst Kills Many.
NO WARNING GIVEN
HEPPNER RECEIVES THE FULL FORCE
OF THE DELUGE.
lone and Lexington Suffer Less-Death
List VIII Reach Fully 3OO-Safety Lay
Only In Flight-Dead Are Buried In
Hastily Constructed cOfflns-Absence
Of 0Ouhls Notable.

Hastily Constructed cOfflns-Absence
Of 0Ouhls Notable.
lone, Or, June ia cloud which
burst on the hills mile south of Hepp
ner at about $3.50 o'clock Sunday after
noon let loose hungry food of water
which swept down the hillside in q
wall 30 feet high and 200 yards wide
Reaching the bottom of the canyon
the liquid avalanche reared its mighty
front over the doomed town, and car,
ried to destruction nearly every build,
ing and human being that lay in its
path, leaving a waste of desolation to
mark Its trail. The destroying torrent
raced down the narrow gorge of Willow
Creek, inundating as it reached them
the settlements of Lexington, lone and
Douglas, but lessening In fury and In
volume as the thirsty alkali soil of the
valley drank up the water like a
sponge. Behind 1t lay nearly 300
dead, drowned like rats in trap. The
suddenness of the catastrophe gave
the victims no warning, overwhelming
them for the main part as they sat
within their homes.
Immediately after the fatal food
had wiped the major portion of Hep
pner out of existence, swift couriers
on horseback sped to warn the resi-
dents of the valley toward the Colum-
bia Of the coming peril. Leslie Mat
lock, son of an ex-sheriff of Morrow
County, rode wild ride for Is miles
ahead of the raging waters. His horse
| dropped dead, but he secured another,
and again another, covering the 65
miles to Arlington in seven hours. To
this Paul Revere of Oregon is undoubt-
edly due the fact that the ranchers of
the Willow Creek country below Hep
pner lost so little stock and property.
The Palace Hotel was the FIRST build
ing to stem the tide, and all the guests
were saved; but houses below the Pa
lace Hotel were throwH out into the
street, overturned and wrecked.
Perhaps the greatest loss occurred
at the Heppner Hotel. This house,
which was run under the management
of Jones & Asbaugh, was carried
away. 1t Is supposed that there were
about so guests in this hotel, all of
whom are reported to be lost. The
proprietors themselves were saved.
but their families are among the dead.
The entire residence portion of Hep
pner was destroyed, but the business
houses, being on higher ground, and
being generally built of brick and
stone, were not so badly damaged.
The schoolhouse and courthouse,
which stand on a sidehill, were saved,
but two churches, the Methodist and
Presbyterian, were completely wreck
ed. Around the depot the recedlng
flood left great heaps of driftwood
piled as high and higher than the roof
and the rescuing parties were forced
to demolish these pyramids Of timber
In order to eXtricate the cerpses
which we're tangled in the brush. I'm
doubtedly many of the drowned bod
ASb WSlC CdAilCu ny luO fubuluB WdICI .
down the valley. It Is reported that
three bodies were found near Lexing-
ton, nine miles below Heppner, but
there we're no fatalities In Lexington.
No systematic effort has been made to
find the dead, who are undoubtedly
strewn along the canyon. Every avail
able man from a radius of 65 miles
has been pressed into service at Hep
pner itself Gangs of men are at
work clearing away the piles Of debris,
rocks and timber, which lie piled In
Heppner's streets, and taking out the
corpses which are thus concealed.
About 100 persons have been buried
in Heppner's graveyard today. Owing
to the entire absence of proper facili.
ties for caring for the dead, the vic
tins of the food were, for the most
part, inferred in common crates. The
ghouls who are usually found, like hui
man vultures, rifiing the pockets of
the dead in such great disasters as the
one which has stricken Heppner, are
inthis case, fortunately absent, and
the vigilance committees and patrols
which were so necessary at Johnstown
|
necessary in Oregon.
A relief train sent from The Dalles
reached lone last night and will pro
ceed to Heppner as soon as possible.
A wrecking train, with gangs Of men
to repair both the tracks and telegraph
wires left last night. 1t is expected
that communication with Lexington.
II miles from Heppner. will be restor-
ed early this morning.
Court street, at Heppner, on the
bank of the stream, is swept clean as
a gravel bar from end to end. Not
even the foundations of long line OF
beautiful residences are left.
Every business house, except the no
tel, Fair store and Odd Fellows build
ing, along the side Of the street on
which the bank stands are wrecks. A
large building is jammed into the drug
store and several other structures are
| in the middle OF the same street. Resi-
dences are turned over or torn to piec.
es. Mud, slime and misery are every
where.
The water was Is feet high in Hep
pner's streets and rose over the new
courthouse wall. II came down Palm
Fork, chiefly, but was a torrent on all
hillsides. Enormous piles Of rock and
gravel have been washed down the
canyon FIVE miles up on Butter creek
The food came almost instantly and
lasted one hour. The people thought
It was only a repetition Of the cloud