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.
STOP BY FOR A
m u m CHECH
AT ANY I t s SCHWAB LOCATION.
------------------------------------------------- '
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