Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-06-19
FATAL FLOOD
Eastern Oregon Cloud
burst Kills Many.
NO WARNING GIVEN
HEPPNER RECEIVES THE FULL FORCE
OF THE DELUGE.

lone and Lexington Suffer Less-Deatt
| List VIII Reach Fully 3OO-Safety Lay
Only in Flight-Dead Are Buried lin
Hastily Constructed Coffins-Absence
of douhIs 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 flood of water,
which swept down the hillside in a
wall 80 feet high and 200 yards wide.
Reaching the bottom of the canyon,
the liquid avalanche reared it's mighty
front over the doomed town, and car
ried to destruction nearly every build
ing and human being that lay in it's
path, leaving a waste of desolation to
mark it's 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 alkai soil of the
valley drank up the water like a
sponge. Behind it lay nearly 300
dead, drowned like rats in a 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 flood
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 18 miles
ahead of the raging waters. His horse
dropped dead, but he secured another,
and again another, covering the IS
miles to Arlington in seven hours. To
this Paul Revere of Oregon is undoubt-
edly due the fact that the ranchers of
the Willow Greek 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 thrown out into the
street, overturned and wrecked.
at the Heppner Hotel. This house,
which was run under the management
of Jones & Asbaugh, was carried
away. It 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 receding
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 corpses
which were tangled in the brush. I'm
doubtedly many of the drowned bod
les were carried by the rushing waters
down the valley. It is reported that
three bodies were found near Lexing-
ton, nine miles below Heppner, but
there were 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 flood were, for the most
part, inferred in common crates. The
ghouls who are usually found, like hui
man vultures, rifling 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
and Galveston floods, seem to be un.
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
IL 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 o1
| beautiful residences are left.
Every business house, except the no
| tel. Fair store and Odd Fellows build
ing, along the side Of the street or
which the bank stands are wrecks. A
large building is jammed into the drue
store and several other structures are
in the middle of the same street. Resi-
Idences are turned over or torn to piec
es. Mud, slime and misery are every
where.
1 The water was Is feet high in Hep
pner's streets and rose over the new
courthouse wall. It came down Pain
Fork, chiefly, but was torrent on al
hillsides. Enormous piles of rock ant
gravel have been washed down th'
|, canyon five miles up on Butter creek
Il The food came almost instantly AM
I lasted one hour. The people though
it was only repetition Of the cloud