PAGE 2 AUGUST 11, 1978
A BAD DAY AT BADGÉB CREEK
by Sandy Rangila
For over two hours, 46 year-
old Bob Mercer was pinned in
the wreckage of a loaded log
truck after it overturned on a
reservation logging road Mon
day, July 31.
Shortly past noon, he was all
It was almost unbelievable that the driver, Bob Mercer, could have
survived this accident. The loaded leg truck overturned after the
brakes went out on a logging road near Badger Creek about 12:30
p.m. July 31, pinning him in the wreckage for two hours. Fire
department volunteers, police, EMT’s, and forestry crews worked to
loaded up and ready to head on
in to the mill, his cargo of white
fir securely bound. With him
was his 14 year-old son Dwayne.
He was rolling down B-180
near Badger Creek when the
shock of realization hit him. No
brakes. His speed was picking
free Mercer who stayed conscious throughout the ordeal. Mercer and
his son who was riding with him were not seriously hurt. Mercer was
in the process of buying the truck from George Picard.
Sandy Rangila Photo
Six Earn Certification In Reality Therapy
Six of the nine certified
reality therapists in Oregon are
from Warm Springs, the number
having swelled dramatically
after a recent training session in
Santa Monica, California.
Completing the last of three
weeklong sessions offered by the
Reality Therapy Institute were:
Delson Suppah, Bob Parker,
Caroline Cruz, Maria Calica,
Dale Cochran, and Sal Sahme.
With their certification the
six individuals have the sanction
of the Institute to practice
reality therapy, a treatment
style becoming increasingly
popular in the Tribal social
service programs.
The certified therapists plan
not only to use their treatment
technique in their various
health-related jobs, but will also
train others in the theory and
practice of reality therapy.
Reality therapy, which can
be practiced on an individual, or
group basis, goes beyond being a
treatment tool and enters the
realm of lifestyle, said new Tri
bal Health Planner Sal Sahme.
As a therapist, “you can’t help
but incorporate it into your own
life,” he noted. In fact, suc
cessful practice of reality ther
apy depends on the personal
involvement of the clinician with
the client in a special treatment
relationship.
Central to reality therapy is
Spilyay Tymoo
the recognition of two basic
human needs: to love and be
loved and to feel worthwhile..
These needs can be met with the
acceptance of reality (the facts
and circumstances surrounding
the individual), responsibility
(fulfilling one’s needs without
depriving others of their needs
fulfillment), and right and wrong
(standards of behavior applied
in a consistent but flexible man
ner).
Dr. William Glasser, who is
credited with the development of
reality therapy, believes the
treatment technique to be appli
cable to people of all back
grounds. Sal Sahme feels it is
particularly consistent with the
“natural care system that has
existed in the Indian commun
ity.”
Although the Tribal Health
and Social Services Branch has
not adopted reality therapy as
its official treatment modality,
interest has grown in the past two
years to the point where training
has been made available to
tribal employees.
The six local certified ther
apists were invited to the July -
August training session after
successfully completing two
prior weeks of training last
September and May. Each stu
dent was required to give an
oral presentation on a topic
relating to reality therapy.
Fisherman's Body
Found In Columbia
SPILYAY TYMOO STAFF
Managing Editor
Sid Miller
Assistant Editor
Sandy Rangila
Photographic Specialist/Writer
Cynthia Stowell
Reporter/Photographers
Priscilla Squiemphen
Donna Behrend
v
Trainee
Roger Stwyer
FOUNDED IN MARCH OF 1976
Published bi-weekly by the Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon. Warm Springs,
Oregon 97761. Located in the Old Administration Building.
Any written material to Spilyay Tymoo should be addressed
to:
Spilyay Tymoo
P. O. Box 735
Warm Springs, Oregon 97761
Phone 553-1644 or 553-1161, Ext. 274
Subscription Rate >6.00 per year
The body of Eli Culps, who
was one of three fishermen who
disappeared March 25,1978, was
discovered by Keith Livesay of
Walla Walla, Washington August
7,1978. He found the body in the
middle of the Columbia River
near Mountain Fir Lumber
Company Chip Mill which is
located close to The Dalles.
Members of the Yakima and
.Warm Springs tribes spent
many days searching for Culps,
35 and Donald Isadore, 29, both
Yakima Nation members and
Leonard Polk, 34, a Warm
Springs member. The bodies of
Isadore and Polk have not yet
been found.
The men were last seen in a
17-foot fiberglass boat around 4
a.m. March 25 at The Dalles
Boat Basin. Their badly damag
ed craft was found a short
distance down river about an
hour later. At that time, State
Police in The Dalles said that all
indications were that the boat
struck a tug and barge outfit.
Part of the bow of the boat was
found on the front of the barge
which had been towed through
the locks shortly after the acci
dent that same day.
Funeral services for Culps
were held August 9 at the Celüo
Longhouse.
up at an alarming rate. Engine
screaming, the log truck careen
ed around two bends before
heading into the final turn.
“I knew I wasn’t going to
make it,” said Mercer. “But I
sure was going to try it.” He
geared up so he wouldn’t blow
the engine which would have left
him in just as bad a position as
having no brakes.
“It was touch and go and I
sure didn’t want to hit no trees
head-on.” But after lurching
through 86 feet of the right-hand
ditch, the truck barked a tree
which sent the truck sailing out
of control.
“I felt the truck tip and told
my son to hang on. But I wasn’t
scared.” His son Dwayne said,
“I just sat there. If I’d have
hung on I probably wouldn’t
have a right hand.”
Neither remembers the
crash too clearly except that it
seemed like slow-motion. “I’m
sure it was pretty fast though,”
said Mercer. The first thing I did
was I told my son to get the hell
outta there.”
Mercer didn’t realize he was
pinned at first, “f was only
scared of burning to death.”
Dwayne crawled out of the cab’s
rear window after wrenching
himself free. But at that point he
wasn’t aware that he was in
jured.
“After I got out and saw that
mirror sticking out of my chest,
I felt kinda sick,” Dwayne re
called. But he kept calling to his
dad asking if he was okay.
“My head was pinned in the
cab roof - it was folded right
around my head and my face
¡vas down,” said Mercer. “Blood
was running into my eyes and
nose, and after a bit I couldn’t
see. I could only hear and it was
darned hard to breathe.”
In describing his position,
Mercer said his left leg was
pinned between the seat and the
dashboard, his right arm was
under his chest and stuck
through the steering wheel, and
both shoulders were pinned.
The accident happened about
12:30 p.m., and by 1:15 the am
bulance, fire truck, police as
well as loggers and forestry
crews were out there assisting.
“They did a very fine job out
there,” stressed Mercer. “I re
member Dean’s voice and Jeff’s,
and every now and then Snuffy
Smith asked, “Hey Horse Fly,
how you doin?”
“I was just trying to keep
cool and calm. I tried to keep
myself from going into shock by
.staying awake. You just think
about something else very im
portant to you.”
Meanwhile, his wife Sally
and Wilma Picard heard about
the accident at 12:45 on the
scanner. But it wasn’t until 1:30
when Wilma inquired at the
police station that Sally found
out it was her husband. “And the
feeling is scared,” she said. She
didn’t find out that he was all
right until she met the ambu
lance at the clinic.
What surprised Mercer the
most was that it seemed like it
took only 15 minutes to get him
out instead of the actual two
hours. And what most of the
observers experienced was dis
belief that anyone could come
out of that wreck alive.
Escaping with only slight
shoulder fractures, cuts, bruises
and bad lacerations, both agree
that they were very, very lucky.