Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 26, 2009)
Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner. Oregon Wednesday August 26, 2009 - FIVE Just the right blend of history and story telling Book Review} By D avid S vkes Calamity - The Heppner Flood Of 1903 Bv Joann Green Byrd University o f Washington Press, 202 pages. $22.50 I h a v e to a d m it when I picked up the new book “Calamity The Hep pner Flood o f 1903’, 1 did so with a bit o f hesitation. What exactly was 1 getting into? Was this a history book about a terrible trag edy with facts, figures and data? Or a narrative story o f the people, their lives, and how a terrible event af fected them? To my delight ‘C alam ity” turned out to be both. Written by Eastern Oregon native Joann Green Byrd, (cousin o f Heppner’s C liff G reen), ‘C a la m ity ’ has ju s t the right blend o f history and story tell ing to keep history buffs inform ed, and the story readers entertained. If you like names and families you will find a rich vein o f first names, last names and rela tives to enrich you. If you like a good story you will turn page after page with ease and enjoyment. Myself, I am inter ested in the lifestyles, living conditions and society o f America in small western tow ns at the turn o f the century. So reading about Heppner in particular dur ing that time, was a special treat for me. Byrd most definite ly rewards the m ind’s eye. as not far into chapter one. you find yourself strolling the dusty streets o f Hepp ner, circa 1903. Look over there, it’s the Palace Hotel, that majestic structure on Main and May (where Les Schwab now stands). Walk on farth er and you will pass one o f Heppner’s five sa lo o n s, M e A te e & Sw ag- gart’s, w ith the sounds o f a “Peer less Electric Self -p lay in g piano play in g music from the m ost celebrated artists o f the world to the m ost com m onplace ragtim e” re a c h in g y o u r ear. And when the subject o f H ep p n e r’s saloons comes up, someone will be quick to mention that Hepp ner "also had six churches.” And yes, if you go down farther on W illow Street (where the former Heppner G a z e tte -T im es b u ild in g once stood) you will find the Chateau de Joie (trans lation: Castle o f Joy), with Madam Mollie Reed, and as Byrd semi-delicately puts it, her five “em ployees” . Seeing the same streets and many o f the old fam iliar buildings come to life in “Calamity” brings to relief the breadth, depth and color o f Heppner’s history. Then there are the people, and especially the families, o f the era. Byrd uses a very effective tech nique to fam iliarize, and personalize us, w ith the families who lived, and on that fateful June day, died here. Starting on the day o f the flood, a Sunday, she will describe what people w ere doing, who they were visiting and what children they were caring for. She follows them closely right up to that fateful hour when the flood w aters rag e d , then she d raw s back. Pick- once again leading us through their “or dinary Sunday” as chapter four is so ap tly nam ed, until we, the readers, know tragedy is coming, but the innocent souls o f Heppner o f course, do not. One al m ost w ants to som ehow warn them, especially the families with their children, as they go about their lives on that soon to be horrible Sunday. When the telling of the actual flood begins, the author piles up a multitude o f words and descriptions to paint the picture of catas trophe, the scope o f which most o f us will never know. B yrd could ju s t as w ell have said: “a wall o f water then came crashing through town carrying with it de bris, bodies and trees.” But once again she draws upon her writing talents and me ticulous research taking us to a place we will never go. I will not ruin the book by quoting her best, or for that matter, any of her descrip tions ot the natural calamity unfolding in Heppner that June 14 so long ago. Suffice it to say that I myself found the best description of the actual flood waters residing on page 32. Then the water is gone. What is left is terrible. With 238 dead it w ill stretch the limits of the toughest o f survivors just to carry on. And once again the author guides us through the wreckage, both physical and human, until we under stand what a determ ined and resilient people lived here. Some moved away, but many stayed and re built. They put their minds and backs into the job the same way they lived their lives, with determ ination and hard work. Byrd gives us much inform ation on the help, both m onetary and with goods and w orkers, that was received in Heppner, Lexington and lone in the days following the flood. This help came not only from around the immediate area, but also the state and the whole country. In these days o f FEMA, and other government agencies with their endless stream s o f money, it speaks volumes about the times, when most o f the relief and rebuilding money came in the form o f donations. Even more telling is that in the end, Heppner turned back some o f the money, saying it had enough, and the m oney should be given to someone else more needy. A person I talked to about this book said, ' ll is probably the definitive work on the 1 leppner flood”. And they are right, because By rd’s research is extensi\ e and well documented. But this book is much more. It is a fascinating look into how the people w ho experienced a terrible natural disaster sun i\ ed. rebuilt and carried on w ith their lives. As poet W illiam D avenant once said: Calamity is the per fect glass w herein we truly see anil know ourselves. ” About the Author r~ The above photo of the author was taken at the Willow Creek Reservoir, formed when a Hood control dam was constructed across Willow Creek in 1983, eighty years after the Heppner Hood. -Contributed Photo Joann Green Byrd is a nati\ e of Eastern Oregon w ho has a 47-year career as a journalist, working first for the East Oregonian in Pendleton and later for the Spokane Daily Chronicle, the Herald in Everett, Washington, the Washington Post, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Port of Morrow Manager Gary Neal gives update to Heppner Chamber of Commerce continued from page one He said the Port will begin moving more containers to the Puget Sound area. Overall “last year has been good for the Port,” Neal said, pointing out all the many im provem ents. And he predicted business would keep being good in the future. He said the coal fired plant at B oardm an could be in danger of clos ing if PGE is not given a rate increase. “We want it to operate, but it may need $500 million in new pollu tion control or it may shut down,” Neal said. With the Umatilla Army Depot scheduled for closing after the last o f the chemical weapons are de S U M M E R T g ^ E L T IM E 15% OFF *0 Struts and Shocks thru September 10, 2009 (stocked products only- Parts only) Good ONLY at Heppner OR Les Schwab Location recession pretty good and it “hasn't hit us very hard. It is pretty solid out there, and we are going to be busy." Neal said his next big project is to build an A gricultural Inform a tion Center on the freeway where people could stop and take “virtual tours” o f the various facilities at the Port. “We want to educate people about food produc tion and agriculture,” Neal said. He pointed out that Greg Smith secured $1.2 million in funding for the site, which will pay for the building, and then the port will need to come up with the funding to install the displays inside. stroyed, Neal said he toured the facility along w ith some other officials, but did not seem too im pressed with the possibilities once the Army is gone. He said the buildings are generally run down and there are etni- ronmental issues with the property. “I don’t see any value to the b u ildings," Neal said. He said the Army has indicated they do not want to do clean up, but to “just leave it”. “We need to make sure the Army cleans it up and doesn't leave us with a liability,” he said. He said overall the businesses at the Port have w eathered the current BETTER eus mimi WITH PROPERLY INFLATED TIRES R ecently Les Schw ab learned w ith the Rubber M anu fa cture rs A ss o cia tio n to ch eck the tire a ir pressure on ve hicles th a t cam e In to som e o t ou r stores. A pp roxim a tely 1.100 vehicles were In sp ected. an d th is Is w h a t we foun d: Æ m ' ■*' • Only 5% o t ve hicles ha d to u r p ro p e rly In h a le d tires. • 58% o f ve hicles h e d a t le a s t one un der In h a le d tire. • 2 6 °. o t ve hicles ha d a t le a s t one tire under In h a te d by 8 pel. • 34% o f ve hicles ha d a t le a s t one tire under In h a te d by 8 psl. • 47% o t ve hicles h a d a t le a s t one tire un der Inh a te d by 4 psl. • tire s m ay lose up to 1 p s l p e r month. M any ve hicles eq uipped w ith tire p re s sure m o nitoring system s w ou ld not Issue a w arning even a fte r a drop In tire pressure o f 8 p s l. These system s Issue a low pressure w arning o n ly a fte r tire p ressure drops 25% . Properly Inh a te d tire s ca n Im prove fu e l e th c le n c y by 3.3% en d save S.06 a g a llo n a t the pump. A pp roxim a tely 1.2 b illio n g a llon s o f fu e l are w asted each year by U.S. m o to ris ts d riv in g on un der Inh a te d tires. 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