HEPPNER GAZETTE-TIMES, Thursday, June 13, 1963
Two Old-Timers Recall Catastrophic Sunday of June l4, 1903, In Heppner
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iff nil oil
akm Mill
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LOOKING NORTH on "JPrfiSAS? PHoTS
was this scene taken from the spot where tune con "e""" ,q,o 0 the le( corner wag the
right is the o.a h
FNrfi by budding which were washed in h the
east side of the street.
THE DAY OF THE FLOOD
By Arthur Raymond Crawford
There are times, perhaps rare
occasions, when stark reality
can far out -do the most horrible
of nightmarish dreams; and in
vimlh, when fantasies and imag
inings are so often at all-out war
against the mere mundane
things, then indeed do harsh
fads upset ethereal fancies,
dreams and nightmares. So jolt
ing com(s reality we would wish
that after all it was in truth
a nightmare.
The year was 1903 and the
day was the lllh of June. It was
I lie day of the II. ppner Flood.
On the third of (he month I had
reached th ace of 10. Early
summer in Eastern Oregon is
a time of year which ordinarily
gives forth the finest of weather.
Hid already in this particular
month su 1 try days wire provid
ing' a series of electrical thunder
storms with resultant flash
floods overflowing creeks, gul
lies and dry washes.
On Saturday the Kith, in the
parly afternoon, lalh.T tame in
to the house? and announced that
since it was such a nice day
he thoughts trip out t() Uncle
John's would he just fine. Then,
too, Virginil, oldest of the child
ren, who bud been at the pinch
for several: days, could come
home wPli; us on our return.
So I accompanied father over
to (he livery staid;1 whore we
stood by while Mr. Thompson
hitched the' horses to one of his
fanciest "liggies," It was to be
the last time that my father,
myself, or ;thc horses and the
surrey too, would ever again
be in that ! stable. (The site of
the stable fit that time was on
the corner lof Main and Ualti
inore, wher' Kami's shoe repair
shop Is noV located.)
With father and mother and
six of us children, four boys and
two girls, sister Virginia already
being at the ranch, there was
a surrey full. My two younger
sisters were to come along in
later years. The Ki-inile trip over
into adjoining I!hea Creek Val
ley was uneventful, but I do
recall the day was terrifically
warm and Jim old country road
was very dry ami very dusty.
Arriving at the ranch we spent
he rest of the day and evening
so normally that I would likely
not be able to set the time apart
from any other pleasant boy
hood experience except that it
predated an event, a catastro
phe would be the better word,
that hundreds of persons were
never to forget and when things
thai were would never be the
same again.
Sunday morning of this never-to-be-forgotten
(lay found a
houseful of happiness. It was a
peril etly gorgeous early morn
ing, but the temperature was
rising rapidly, and I remember
Uncle John Spencer saying
somt tiling also about the hu
midity, which didn't moan a
thing to me at that time. The
early afternoon, even if it was
Sunday, was too nice for anyone
to deny the suggestion of a few
I'ames of pitching horseshoes.
So all of us, probably about
twenty men, women and child
ren were soon out in front of
in.' blacksmith's shop and the
Miirts" proceeded to show
their skill. I recall the partici
. us spent much time measur
ing and arguing the distances
of the respective "shoes" iroin
the peg.
'In' 'nine had gone on with
rapt interest by all, when sud
denly sunshine gave way to
semi-darkness and instantly
huge raindrops were falling in a
sort of easy splatter manner
not wet enough to drive one to
cover, tin t now someone happen
ed to look up the valley and
then he yelled. It was not a
great distance to the house but
t seems now, in looking back
to the time, things happened
awfully fast, The roar coming
down the valley was blended in
with the continuous claps of
thunder, and by the time we
reached the house the deluge
had slnuk. In a matter of min
utes the house was completely
isolated in a sea of water. How
ever, the flood water soon re
ceded and no real damage re
sulted. There seemed to be no
misgivings; everyone retired for
the night in fine spirits.
1 remember being awakened
bv a noise around eleven o'clock
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Before talking, patient stiown above was nervous, rundown.
pressed and lonely. After talking (by long distance to girl friend)
patient became happy, smiling, almost ecstatic. For what ails
you. there no prescription quite like hearing your loved ones'
voices. Why don't you hear some voices tonight, after 6. when '
long distance rates are lower? PACIFIC NORTHWEST BELl
I that night. I could see the clock
I on the night stand and there
I was a lighted lantrrn on the
stand by the clock. There was
I also a man sitting by the other
i bed in the far corner. Coming
I out of a sound sleep I was not
i sure that I was not having some
sort of a nightmare, for this man
was telling my mother's cousin,
Curtis Rhea, the man in the
other bed about homes, houses
and many other buildings being
washed away in a flood result
ing from a huge cloudburst that
had struck some eight or nine
miles above the town; but more
awesome, he was enumerating in
some detail, the names of many
persons, entire families, who
had been drowned. Many of
those named were relatives of
ours and many of the others
were dear and close friends. The
late night visitor had brought
word of the catastrophe, I learn
ed later, by horseback, as all
telephone lines were out. The
man was still talking as I 'ower
ed back on the pillow and went
back to sloop.
In the morning mother met
me at the foot of the stairway
and she was sobbing. It seemed
like everyone was crying, so I
began to cry also. It was then
I fully realized I had not been
dreaming in the night.
On that early Monday morn
ing, father and mother and all
the children except my next
younger brother Spencer and me,
were on their sad journey back
to town. They were accompanied
by my Aunt Edith, who was
soon to learn that both her
father, Dr. Vaughn, who for
years had been the town's den
tist and had been serving as
postmaster in the President Mc
Kinley administration and her
mother had lost their lives in
the flood.
Uncle John had the usual and
necessary ranch chores to do and
it was some two hours later
when we were in the buckboard
behind a fast stepping span of
horsrs. It was a comparatively
fnsl trip and there was very
little conversation. Finally we
came into the long road at the
crest ot the hill which leads into
town on the south, and soon my
LULLtbt isn't easy -you
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money. Money at work now
at Equitable Savings can
carry the college financial
burden later. Equitable's
cost comparison
chart helps. Just call me.
e..
i college cost comparison m
chart helps. Just call me. Eg
Jit
Bill Morgan
39 S.W. Dorion Avenu
Pendleton. Oregon
CR 6-2421
Money at work earning 4 and
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'Current rite al maturity if you qualify.)
i
- uum iilii4 nlnliii nf iSiiiKiri
Story of Ah Ling
By O. M. YEACER
This story was told in the Port
land Oregonian a few weeks af
ter the Heppner flood, and was
titled, "FIGHT BRINGS OUT
STORY OF A MURDER: WHY
CHINAMEN WERE DRIVEN
FROM THE TOWN."
"Ah Ling is a Chinaman and
has no political influence what
ever. Yet he managed by one
act to get every Chinaman at
Heppner banished from that
city, and to this day not a den
izen of the flowery kingdom is
allowed there.
"In the eyes of Ah Ling the
charge again.st him was trivial
and really deserved no consid
erations at all, but the 'Melican
men' thought differently. Ling
was merely accused of hiring a
high-binder to kill a sick man
and rob him of $2,000 that he
intended to use in getting back
to the Orient and supporting
himself until his death, which
was not far distant, in the nat
ural course of events, had he
not been murdered.
"This story . was told again at
the police station yesterday af
ternoon when Ling and Wun
Lin were arrested and charged
with fighting. They stood on the
corner of Second and Oak
Streets, diagonally across from
police headquarters, and after
brandishing their fists in each
other's faces for a few minutes
uncle brought the horses to a
stop and my brother and I
quickly understood why. Follow
ing his gaze off across the val
ley below us, we could look over
where the long, steep road went
up the hill to Masonic Cemetery.
It was not yet noon time, but
there was already a long pro
cession of horse-drawn vehicles,
each crarying a wooden box.
Sixty years ago, yes but to
me it seems only yesterday.
began a fight In earnest. Desk
Officer Wendorf and Detective
Hellyer ran across the street and
arrested them.
" 'He allee samee owe me brud
dah $400 and say he no pay!'
screeched Lin to Captain Gritz
macher, 'He velly bad man, allee
samee kill heap plenty people.'
" 'Captain, you know me velly
well,' suavely replied Ling. 'This
man San Flancissco highbindah.
He workee in Blarba shop heah
as a blind. He allee samee tellee
me many times if I no play him
no money he killee me.' I no
flight. He thleaten killee me and
stlike at me and I hold him
away.'
"Lin had no money and went
to jail. Ling put up $10 bail.
Both were charged with fighting.
"Ling was arrested shortly af
ter the Heppner flood and charg
ed with causing the murder of
his countryman, who was beaten
to death with a club in sight
of the railway station. The
Chinaman who did the deed con
fessed and was the only wit
ness. He said the intention was
to commit the murder in such
a manner that when the body
was afterward found in the Wil
lows the authorities would think
the man drowned and that his
body had been washed down
during the flood. This story was
effectually disapproved, however,
by several people, who would
have sworn that the murdered
Chinese drew money out of the
Heppner bank and went to the
railway station, where he met
his death, sometime after the
flood.
"The Chinese witness became
insane and hanged himself
while confined at Heppner.
There being no other witness of
the murder, Ling had to be re
leased. Enraged at this mis
carriage of justice, the people
rose up as one man and forced
every Chinese in the city to
leave. Not a single Chinaman
has since then been allowed to
stay in Heppner."
Author's note: I remember this
incident and knew Ah Ling pers
onally, and the real truth of
this matter is this: The China
man, Ah Ling, who hired the
other Chinaman to do the murd
ering, went to our county jail
in Heppner and hired the pris
oner to hang himself for a small
sum of money. This money was
found on the table in his cell
when they found his body. The
sheriff of the county caught the
witness in an attic in a vacant
cabin out in Eight Mile
country a few miles south of
Heppner. For a good many years
not one Chinaman was allowed
to even enter Heppner, but as
the years slipped by, the younger
generation forgot all about the
murder and once again China
men were allowed to live in
Heppner and operate restaur
ants. Eddie Chin, finally came
and operated the old Elk Horn
restaurant for many years and
the people of Heppner liked him
very much. He sold out a few
years ago and opened up a swell
restaurant in Hermiston, Oregon.
Y0!!lyfGTij6t
Don't Delay - - -
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Sold Only by Your Local Agent
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and BRYANT
Heppner
INSURANCE
Ph. 676-9652
h " : r v . V f - & -'': ' f & ccv -'A $k?r lA'
lillll
RvsssNHV ltMxN SL " Vs" x v N V s,!i
Dig your toes in the cool, wet sand
Who can resist it? That exuberant urge to peel
off your shoes and go joyfully down to meet
the sea. You don't want anything, ever, to spoil
that lovely beach . . . neither do we.
So today, with advanced drilling techniques,
we seek oil beneath beaches without marring
their beauty with equipment and derricks.
Instead, the oil is brought up by "slant drill
ing" from a well located far away, often out in
the sea. On the beach, you don't even know it's
happening.
So dig your toes in the cool, wet sand. Enjoy
your lovely seaside playgrounds. We cherish
their beauty, as you do.
Planning ahead to serve you better
STANDARD OIL COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA
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