Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1903-06-25
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 WIN Reach Fully 800 Safety Lay
Only In Flight Dead Are Buried In
Hastily Constructed cOffiBs-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 a
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 it's
path, leaving q waste of desolation to
mark its trail. The destroying torrent
raced down the narrow gorge Of Willow
Creek, inundating as 1t 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 1S 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. Tc
this Paul Revere of Oregon is undoubt
edly dve the fact that the ranchers 8.
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.
Perhaps the greatest loss occurred
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 80 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 q sidehill, were saved
but two churches, the Methodist and
Presbyterian, were completely wreck
ed. Around the depot the recedins
food left great heaps of driftwooG
piled as high and higher than the roo
and the rescuing parties were forced
to demolish these pyramids of timber
in order to extricate the corpses
which were tangled in the brush. Un
doubtedly many of the drowned bod
les were carried by the rushing water:
down the valley. It is reported tha
three bodies were found near Lexing
ton, nine miles below Heppner, bu
there were no fatalities in Lexington
No systematic effort has been made t
| find the dead, who are undoubtedl,
Strewn along the canyon. Every avail
able man from radius Of SIS milei
has been pressed into service at Hep
pner itself. Gangs of men are a
work clearing away the piles of debris
rocks and timber, which lie piled ii
Heppner's streets, and taking out tht
corpses which are thus concealed.
About 100 persons have been burieC
in Heppner's graveyard today. Owint
to the entire absence of proper facili
ties for caring for the dead, the vic
Tins Of the flood were, for the mos
part, inferred in common crates. Tn
ghouls who are usually found, like hi
man vultures, rifling the pockets @
the dead In such great disasters as tn
one which has stricken Heppner, ar
inthis case, fortunately absent, an
the vigilance committees and patrol
which were so necessary at Johnstowi
and Galveston floods, seem to be III
necessary in Oregon.
A relief train sent from The Dale
reached lone last night and will pre-
coed to Heppner as soon as possible
A wrecking train, with gangs of me
to repair both the tracks and TELEGRAPH
wires LEFT last night. Il is expects
that communication with Lexington
| II miles from Heppner, viii be restol
ed early this morning.
i Court street, at Heppner, on tn
bank Of the stream, is swept clean d
q gravel bar from end to end No
even the foundations of long line 0
beautiful residences are left.
Every business house, except the he
| tel, Fair store and Odd Fellows buil6
ing, along the side Of the street o.
| which the bank stands are. wrecks. 4
large building is jammed into the dru
store and several other structures ar
In the middle of the same street. Res
dences are turned over or torn to piet
es. Mud, slime and misery are every
where.
| The water was Is feet high in Hel
pner's streets and rose over the me-
courthouse wall. It came down PalI
Fork, chiefly, but was a torrent on a
hillsides. Enormous piles of rock an
gravel have been washed down tn
canyon tive miles up on Butter creel