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On
a hot day in spring May 14th, 1903, most
people were enjoying the comfort of their homes, or preparing for an
evening church service when thunderstorm clouds started to form
outside. Everyone saw the rain as a much needed gift for the farmers,
little did they know that the water running off the mountains would
join and form a deadly problem.
The intensity of the storm grew but was still not enough to send
people away from their homes. As the thunder and lightning increased,
hail soon joined the storm. People who were outside gave up and spent
their time inside to escape the fury of the storm. Most people remained
silent however, because the noise of the storm was too great to speak
over.
The roar of the storm hid the sounds of a rushing wall
of water incredibly well. Had it not been for the booming thunder and the
pounding of hail, the people of Heppner might have had a warning of the
flood and a better chance of survival.
All the water coming off the mountains joined at one
point
causing the overflow of water to run into a neraly dry and almost non
existent Willow Creek. Because this creek could not hold the great
amounts of water flowing into it, the creek bed overflowed and sent
large amounts of water towards Heppner.
When the water reached Heppner, it had become a 40 ft.
high,
200 ft. wall of water. The community of Heppner didn't stand a chance
against this angry surge of water.
Houses were ripped off their foundations and were drug
many
feet, trees were snapped in half like toothpicks. Many people had
nowhere to go so they climb the hills that surround Heppner. The flood
was like a horror film playing out to them as a wave of water destroyed
the place they called home. The water was reported to have reached Ione
and still wave had enough power to cause potential damage problems.
A man named Leslie Matlock was the son of a former
sheriff
and took it upon himself to warn the people further down the valley. He
rode for 18 miles on a horse and when his horse dropped dead, he picked
up another from a nearby farm and kept riding. The residents of Ione
all got their families safe and out of harm's way. If it had not been
for Leslie Matlock's courage, there may have been more lives lost on
May 14th 1903.
Back in Heppner, the destruction lasted one hour.
In the following days a clean up of the town was
persued sadly
by the survivors. The city of Portland sent many people to help,
and also donations. Bodies were found under feet of mud. Some people
didn't even have most of their clothes on because the power of the
flood was too great for the material of their clothes.
Bodies had to be found fast because of the hot weather that was on the way. Over two thousand people were enrolled in the clean up of the town and buildings that still stood were used as temporary morgues for the hundreds of bodies It was time to move on for the people in Heppner. The reconstuction lasted for days. People were working fast and trying on to accept what had happened to their town.
Heppner has a monument at the Heppner Masonic Cemetary dedicated to the families and the victims of the 1903 flood.
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