Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 2003)
Stories of the Flood A n o th e r w av e dashed m e upon a raft o f rubbish. 1 looked for my wife, for my grandchild, for Harris. Neither could I see. 1 floated dow n stream a mile The paucity of children swept o ff the roof. At last I and a h a lf and at last gained at H eppner is an evidence o f lifted my head out o f the water. the shore.” the awful havoc o f the flood. How many are dead will never be known. N ext tim e school opens the loss o f the growing * crop o f young people will have an aw ful significance once more. Had the flood com e an hour earlier, 25 or 30 m ore children would have escaped, b e c a u s e th a t m an y w e re rehearsing exercises in the South M ethodist Church for the evening service. A bout a dozen persons w ho w ere in the church when destruction fell upon the city escaped safe Picture submitted by Nancy Jepsen. Heppner after the June 14,1903 and sound. The organist, Miss flood. Adkins, daughter o f the pastor, was going hom e, but the rain drove her into the house o f a relative. The house was swept aw ay and she was drow ned. T h ere h av e been many rumors ofbodies having returned to life w hen picked up one or tw o days after the catastrophe. Each o f these rumors has turned out to have no basis o f truth whatever. A M rs. H agar w as borne away from the m orgue yesterday with a bleeding leg. The story got abroad that she had returned to life while being prepared for burial and had been cut by scissors w hen attendants were cutting off her clothes. But Mrs. Hagar, while w o rk in g on a b o d y , h a d leaned against her scissors and thus had wounded herself. Judge Julius Keithley, Shenanigans fiddle group: (back row L-R): Matt Holland, 70 years old, tells one o f the Alex Carlson, Kate Kendrick, Brynna Rust; (front row m o st re m a rk a b le ta le s o f L-R): Kara Clay and Eric Jepsen. escape o f any. show. It w as given to a near The final performance “ I’m alive today,” he capacity crowd in February in F lo o d : We say s, “ b e c au se I kep t my o f “ T h e H eppner. In A p ril, it w as head. No, I’m not bruised very R e m e m b e r” w ill be th is perfonned for the lone student Friday, June 13, at 6:30 p.m. much.” body as a school assem bly The Judge lost his wife at the Catholic Parish Hall in program, and most recently it and grandchild in the flood. A Heppner. This m ultim edia/ w as staged at the H ardm an m an nam ed H arris, a tinner, musical presentation tells the C o m m u n ity H all in M ay. w ho lived at his house, was history o f the Heppner Flood A c c o rd in g to Peg W illis, also carried away. Harris from o f 1903 using Pow er Point program director, this should first to last despaired o f escape. technology with pictures and be the best show yet. There » “ We w ere preparing n a r r a tio n , as w e ll as h av e been m o re p ic tu re s for supper,” say the Judge, perform ance o f music o f that a d d e d a n d s o m e s c r ip t “when a heavy storm began. I e ra by S h e n a n ig a n s. T he changes as well. was uneasy and so was Harris. evening will open with music A d m issio n is free. Frequently, I went to the door by the fiddle groups Mulligan Everyone is invited to attend. and looked out. Then H arris Stew and Shenanigans. The Shenanigans have had clim bed upstairs. He had no actual multimedia presentation 50 more copies o f their music more than looked out the south will get under way about 7 p.m. CD produced and those will This will be the fourth w indow than he shrieked: be available to purchase if and final perform ance o f the ‘W e’re lost. W e’re lo st.’ I desired. rushed upstairs, my grandson following. I called to my wife to follow. She hesitated. Then the floor bulged upward. She at once started up the stairs. By Debbie Harper Just as she reached the last Tami Sneddon is the step from the top, the w hole USGen Web site Coordinator information about the county. house fell to pieces. The apex for Morrow' County. Her web It’s a good place to share o f the ro o f seem ed to cave in. site: w w w .rootsw eb.com / information.” She has a place I remember nothing more until -orm orrow was developed to on her site where people who I found myself floating on a part provide genealogy research are looking for inform ation o f the roof. I looked about for a s s is ta n c e an d h is to ric a l about Morrow County people m y wife. A s I did so, up she inform ation about M orrow or places can post queries. Sneddon, w ho grew darted from the water close by County. up in M orrow County, has me. 1 extended my hand to her. O f particular interest lo n g b e e n i n te r e s te d in She grasped it. I pulled. She right now, is the inform ation genealogy, teaching genealogy could not follow. I tugged and a b o u t th e 1903 H e p p n e r tugged, but could not get her flood. The site talks about the classes through BM CC and u p . H a r ris c a m e to m y f lo o d , h a s c o p ie s o f a ls o g a v e a c la s s on th e assista n c e . T he tw o o f us new spaper articles, and lists H e p p n e r F lo o d th a t w as could pull her up no better the flood victim s. Sneddon attended by over 35 people. She w as one o f the sources than one. cross-references the sources that the History Channel used she used to compi le the victim's for its N ovem ber 2000 flash list. There is also a translation flood episode o f its ‘ Wrath o f ALL NEWS o f th e h e a d s to n e s o f the ( iod* series, which features the C hinese flood victim s, with AND Heppner Flood. ADVERTISEMENT photos. T h e U S G en W eb “Most o f the history of P r o je c t is a g ro u p o f DEADLINE: the county is in its people," says v o lu n te e r s th a t p r o v id e S n e d d o n . T h e w e b s ite I n te r n e t w e b s ite s fo r MONDAYS provides “people that c a n ’t genealogical research in every trav el to M orrow C o u n ty AT 5:00 P.M. county in every state in the a c c e s s to r e c o r d s a n d U.S. Flood wipes out new “ 'K ic k ’ 1 cried to her, g en era tio n a n d Ju d g e but she either couldn’t kick or Keithley's story, June 18, d id n ’t understand. A w ave 1903 (staff correspondence): bore dow n upon us. We were Bessie AatzâLL U o f J Ne * 3 pa par H o r a r y Eu£aae, OR 974.'3 -T Final performance of flood program to be held Saturday School District office will stay in Lexington The M orrow County S chool D istrict office will rem ain in Lexington, as per a split vote M onday evening at the d istric t’s regular board m eeting in Irrigon. The board revisited the issue o f m oving the school district office from Lexington to the north end o f the county, and because o f prohibitive costs involved in moving the office, in particular th e c o m p u te r m a in fra m e , reversed the decision they had m ade in April. Board members Larry M ills and B urke O ’B rien, H e p p n e r , J o h n R e n f ro , Lexington, and John Rietmann, lone, voted in favor o f leaving the office in Lexington because o f cost savings. B oard C hair J u lie W e ik e l a n d G a ry Frederickson, both Boardman, and Pat M cN am ee, Irrigon, opposed the m otion, saying that the district office should b e m o v e d to w h e r e th e majority o f the students are. “ With Heppner being the only school there (if lone secedes from the district), I think the district office needs to be where the action is,” said M cN am ee. W eikel echoed that sentim ent, saying that sin ce six out o f th e eight sch o o ls are lo cated in the north end, the district office s h o u ld be th e r e as w e ll. S u p e r in te n d e n t D r. Ja c k C rippen, concerned that he would not be able to establish continued page 3 1903 Keppner ^lood Commemoration ~ ~ ‘Triclq?, Sune 13, 2003 ~ ~ 6 :3 0 p .m . “The "Flood - Remember” presented bp Peg GDillis Jjf The Shenanigans performing at the S t. Patrick Parish ^ a ll ~ ~ Saturday, Sune 14, 2003 ---- 8 :0 0 - 1 :0 0 1 0 0 -^ear "Flood Commemorative Dolkswalk start at Pettyjohn S ld /(3 g Service Center 9 :0 0 - 2 :0 0 PQorrow County Courthouse open for tours 9 :0 0 - 4 :0 0 Self-guided Keppner "Flood Tour information at the M orrow County flQuseum and Jteppner Chamber of Commerce Self-guided fiQasonic Cemetery ©allying Tour 9 :0 0 - 6 :0 0 flQorrow County flQuseum Visitation vie» video of IQ03 ‘Flood historp booh signing - Mark Kighberger at museum book sale at the Oregon Trail Cibrarp 1 0 :0 0 a.m . Dedication at heritage Park 1 1 :0 0 a.m . Memorial unveiling at the Keppner CQasonic Cemetery 2 :0 0 - 4 :0 0 uCascadia "Folk Quartet” performing at the S t. Patrick Parish Hall Sponsored bp CQorroa? County Unified Recreation District 6 :3 0 p.m . Dinner at the Cemetery (by ticket only) Tickets available at Klamath T irsi If Heppner Chamber of Commerce Local woman’s website features flood information HiQual L ive sto ck Eq u ip m e n t CLOSE O U T S A L E OIM SELECTED ITE M S • B a le S p ik e s • Flex H o rs e P a n e ls • a n d m o re ! Call o r s to p b y fo r a c o m p le te lis t o f sa le Ite m s Morrow County Crain Growers Lexington 989-8221 • 1-800-452-7396 For farm equipment. visit our wtb sit* at w w w .im n .n tt
