1903 — June 14, Downpour, Flash Flood, Willow Creek, Heppner (and area), OR — ~247
–400-500 Oakland Tribune, CA. “Four Hundred Numbered Among The Dead.” 6-16-1903, p1.[1]
–350-500 Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Hundreds Drowned…Town Wiped Out.” 6-15-1903, 1.[2]
— 324 History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 14, 1903. “Flash Flood…”[3]
— 300 Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Hundreds Drowned…Town Wiped Out.” 6-15-1903, 1.[4]
— ~300 New York Times. “Former Floods Have Cost Many Lives.” June 5, 1921.
— 259 Sullivan, William L. Oregon’s Greatest Natural Disasters. 2008, p. 105.
–247-251 DenOuden. “Heppner flood of 1903.” The Oregon Encyclopedia, 9-14-2017 update.[5]
— 250 Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. EM DAT Database.
— 247 Blanchard (we accept figure used by Heppner Chamber of Commerce, NWS & OSA).
— 247 Heppner Chamber of Commerce Heppner Flood of 1903. (taken from Donner, 1953).
— <247 NWS Forecast Office, Portland, OR. Oregon’s Top 10 Weather Events of 1900s.
— 247 OR State Archives (OSA). OR Historical County Records Guide. Morrow Co. History
— 245 Byrd, Joann Green. Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903. 2009, p. xvi.[6]
— 238 Byrd, Joann Green. Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903. 2009, p. xv.[7]
— 236 Ludlum. The American Weather Book, 1982, p. 129.
— 225 Perry. Significant Floods in the United States During the 20th Century. USGS, 2000.
— 220 Burt and Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. 2004, p. 131.
–177-200 Bodies recovered as of June 23 (35 more missing). Eau Claire Leader. 6-24-1903, 1.[8]
— 167 Bodies recovered as of June 20. Anaconda Standard, MT. 6-21-1903, p. 1.
Narrative Information
Burt and Stroud: “The town of Heppner, located in the foothills of the Blue Mountains in western Oregon, was virtually wiped out by a flash flood on the afternoon of June 14, 1913. A heavy rain and hailstorm caused the flood, but it was the exposed location of the village that caused its destruction. The town was overwhelmed by a wave of 10 to 15 feet of water that suddenly flowed down the normally tranquil Willow Creek.[9] Within 30 minutes, 220 of Heppner’s 1,400 residents were drowned.” (Burt and Stroud. Extreme Weather. 2004, 31.)
Byrd: “The Heppner Flood was a flash flood, a sudden, unstoppable cliff of water and debris that surges through canyons and down river channels, crushing whatever and whomever gets in the way. On the hot afternoon of June 14, 1903, the Flood took little more than an hour to claim the lives of 238 men, women, and children; then it rolled down-stream and poisoned the drinking water of two other communities. Heppner also lost 141 homes and 40 businesses. And of course, hundreds of horses and cows, pigs and chickens…In the countryside, farmers and ranchers mourned for acres and acres of topsoil, for orchards and pasture.” [p. xv.]
“The merciless floodwaters rampaged…through town, killing every person and devouring every thing in the way. Near the north end of Main Street, the Heppner Hotel became the scene of a singular tragedy. When the rotating wall of water reached Main and Baltimore, it lifted the Telephone Livery Stable roof — 120 feet wide and 275 feet long — and carried it off its moorings. Seconds later the furious water tore through the hotel’s walls and porches and roofing and scattered across the landscape sections of flooring, framing, stairs, and the nearly upright shell of one second-floor room — stripped of wallpaper, furnishings, and guests. The stable roof sank to the scoured ground and across other debris. When the water receded, some of the scattered steamer trunks left amid the hotel wreckage still contained the belongings of people who wouldn’t be coming back. The destruction was so complete that all twenty-five guests inside the hotel were presumed dead, whether or not their bodies were identified.”[10] [p. 26.]
“Even though dozens of bodies had been found out in the open, many others must have been caught inside…enormous tangles of debris. The longest drift…extended across the valley floor north of Heppner for half a mile. Many others were nearly that large. Bodies might be dumped in a swath a mile or more wide and as far as Ione, 16 miles north….getting those drifts torn apart required a lot more muscle than Heppner had left. And it wasn’t just a matter of the bodies; there was the putrid slime spread by floodwaters that had washed through hundreds of outhouse vaults, cellars and barnyards.” [p. 36.]
(Byrd, Joann Green. Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903. 2009.)
History.com: “A flash flood in Oregon kills 324 people on this day in 1903. The sudden onslaught of water caused millions of dollars in damages to the central Oregon town of Heppner….Before the flood, extremely hard rain and hail came down in the Blue Mountains, which rise above Heppner. Reports say that the storm may have lasted only an hour, but it overwhelmed the small streams of the area and caused a 20-foot wave of water to thunder through the town with little warning. About 200 people were simply swept away from the community. A third of the town was absolutely destroyed. The flood also wreaked havoc on surrounding farms, killing another 125 people.” (History.com. This Day in History, June 14, 1903. Flash Flood Devastates Oregon Town.”)
Ludlum: June 14, 1903. “Heppner Disaster caused by cloudburst in hills that sent flood down Willow Creek in north Oregon; one-third of town swept away; 236 killed; $100 million damage.” (Ludlum. The American Weather Book, 1982, p. 129.
NWSFO, Portland: “Deadly Flash Flood on June 14, 1903 at Heppner, Oregon. This was surely the most deadly natural disaster in Oregon’s recorded history. A strong thunderstorm, accompanied by extremely heavy rain and hail, moved near Heppner, Oregon. The storm covered a very small area, probably no more than 50 square miles. Heavy rain fell in a very short time, creating severe flash flooding along Willow Creek, normally a peaceful stream flowing through the town center. The entire town was swept away in just a few short minutes, drowning nearly 247 people. Eyewitnesses say thunderstorm rains arrived as a 40-foot wall of water and the ensuing flood raged through town for over an hour. In all, one-third of the towns’ structures were wiped out. The massive runoff of water was a result of heavy rain falling on the barren rocky hills, then flowing into the Willow Creek watershed. Only fifteen minutes separated the first rainwater in Willow Creek at Heppner and the flood crest! There are no rainfall records available for this storm because the weather observing station was completely destroyed, drowning the observer and his entire family.
“A similar fate would have been in store for the citizens of Ione, just 20 miles downstream. However, telephoned warnings prompted an immediate evacuation and residents escaped to high ground. At least 150 homes were destroyed at Ione and bodies were washed more than 40 miles downstream to the Columbia River.” (NWSFO, Portland. OR Top 10 Weather Events of 1900s.)
Oregon State Archives: “…in 1903 Heppner was devastated by the most deadly natural disaster in the Oregon’s recorded history. A very strong thunderstorm precipitated a severe flash flood along Willow Creek, normally a quiet stream running through the town. The storm caused a 40 foot wall of water to sweep away much of the town in just a few minutes. The disaster left 247 people dead and one third of the town’s structures destroyed.
“Leslie Matlock, a Heppner resident who was able to escape the flood, heroically jumped on a horse and raced ahead of the rampaging waters to the neighboring town of Lexington, nine miles to the northwest. His warnings to the town’s 500 residents to “head for the hills” saved them. By the time the flood passed, only two houses in Lexington were still standing.” (Oregon State Archives. OR Historical County Records Guide. Morrow County History.)
Newspapers
June 15: “Spokane, Wash., June 15.–Special telephone advices to the Chronicle from Arlington, Ore., state that the town of Heppner, Ore., was destroyed by a great flood of water which rushed down Willows Creek between 6 and 7 o’clock last evening. Later telephone advices from the Ione state that from 350-500 people are believed to have been drowned. At 5 a.m. it was reported that 105 bodies had been found. Wires are down and only meagre reports of the disaster have been brought out by messengers.
“Heppner is a town of about 1250 inhabitants, the county seat of Morrow county, Ore., at the terminus of a branch of the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company. Farming and stock raising are its chief industries. Willows Creek, which is given as the cause of the disaster, is ordinarily a small stream and early reports indicate the flood was caused by either one or two cloud bursts….
“Heppner is situated in the narrow valley of Willows Creek. Advices to the Chronicle state that a great storm was raging yesterday. About 5:30 yesterday afternoon a cloud burst a short distance above Heppner and a wall of water, like the Columbia river, rushed down the valley. The roar of the storm deadened the roar of the water and the people had no warning of oncoming flood. Suddenly it rushed through the town, sweeping homes from their foundations and drowning the people in the wrecks of their own homes.
“Dead bodies and wreckage were borne down the valley. Scores are still unaccounted for. At last reports 105 bodies had been recovered and it is feared that three or four times that number perished. At Lexington, Ore., some houses were wrecked but no one was drowned. At Ione, Ore., one house was wrecked. The railway telegraph and telephone lines were badly damaged in the valley.
“The flood at Heppner subsided quickly. The resident district suffered most, though the business section was flooded…..Besides the dead, from 100 to 200 are reported injured….
“Bridges were swept away like so many matches…
“The fact that the accident occurred just before nightfall made it the more distressing, as little relief could be carried on during the cover of darkness…
“The Oregon and Navigation Company, on hearing of the disaster, at once prepared for a special relief train to leave The Dalles….
“A message to Arlington, Ore., direct from Heppner says three hundred were drowned in the cloudburst. The water ran one hour and a half. It came down in a mighty torrent, sweeping everything before it….” (Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Hundreds Drowned and Town Wiped Out.” 6-15-1903, p. 1.)
June 16: “The Dalles, Ore., June 16.–A telephone message from Ione states that the latest find in the ruins in Heppner indicates that the loss of life will be much greater than at first supposed. The casualty list will foot up 500 lives and many of the bodies may never be recovered….One hundred and fifty of the best residences were swept from the face of the earth….
“One hundred and ten bodies have been found in the frightful mass of ruins and debris which marks the spot of the once pretty town of Heppner, and 150 more are missing….
Bodies of Victims.
“Spokane, Wash., June 16.–Direct advices to the Chronicle from Heppner, Or., at 10 o’clock this morning, state that thus far the bodies of 200 victims of Sunday night’s disaster have been found. Two hundred more are supposed to be hidden in the ruins or to have been swept down the valley by the terrible flood. An estimate this morning places to total number of dead at 400. Nearly all of these were in Heppner, it being thought few perished in the valley below the town….
“A force of seventy-five men are digging graves on the hillside….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Four Hundred Numbered Among The Dead.” 6-16-1903, p. 1.)
June 17: “Heppner, Oregon, June 17.–Seven bodies of the flood victims were exhumed from a pile of debris one hundred feet thick this morning. Of the seven, one is a Chinaman and one a woman about 30 years old, unidentified….
“Spokane, Wash., June 17.–Just how many perished in Sunday’s flood at Heppner, Oregon, may never be known. It is believed many bodies have been buried in the mud deposited in the valley and may never be found….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Bodies of Victims Found in the Debris.” 6-17-1903, p. 1.)
June 18: “Heppner, Oregon, June 18.–Two thousand men and hundreds of horses are at work this morning in the restoration of order out of chaos. The bodies of the two Stalter children have been found. The remains were found yesterday and preserved in hail-stone banks….” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “Pitiful Scenes at Heppner.” 6-18-1903, p. 1.)
June 19: “Heppner, Ore., June 19.–The developments of yesterday afternoon and this afternoon show the Heppner death list will pass estimates of the last two days. There are several large shifts of men at work and corpses are being found many miles away. At the rate bodies are coming in, the list will easily reach 200 actually found, identified and buried. Many bodies have undoubtedly been carried to the Columbia river, forty miles away, and will never be recovered.
“While the bodies yesterday and today ere in horrible condition, many were frozen stiff when brought into the hot sun, a phenomenon rendered possible by their covering of hail. Great banks of frozen hail still lie in the drifts with bodies….” (Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Death List Is Growing. Corpses Being Found Miles Away From The Town of Heppner.” 6-19-1903, p. 1.)
June 20: “Heppner, Or., June 20.–One more body was recovered from the debris this morning, making 162 recovered. Main street is practically clear of debris…” (Oakland Tribune, CA. “One More Body is Recovered.” 6-20-1903, p. 1.)
June 21: “Heppner, Ore., June 20.–The Oregon Railroad & Navigation company has resumed regular service to Heppner, the track having been repaired to-day, after an interruption of six days. Eight bodies were received at the morgue to-day, making a total of 167 recovered. Some were found below Douglas, a distance of about 30 miles. The situation at the morgue is becoming very trying, as the bodies are in a bad stage of decomposition….” (Anaconda Standard, MT. “More Bodies Are Found.” 6-21-1903, p. 1.)
June 22: “Heppner, Or., June 22.–The clearing away of the debris caused by the flooding is progressing rapidly….Only two of the buildings remain on Main street that were carried there by the waters, and the sediment that was deposited on the streets is being rapidly removed.
“The sanitary conditions of the town at present are far better than had been hoped for, but every precaution is being taken to guard against an epidemic. Dr. Smith, who represents the State Board of Health, ordered alkali from the hills to be placed upon the streets and that work is now being accomplished.
“The City Council has issued orders that no more dead bodies be brought into town without the consent of the Coroner, but today the bodies of Mrs. Robert Morgan and Andrew Peterson were so well preserved that they were brought to the morgue and prepared for burial. The missing bodies now number thirty-five.
“Eleven bodies were found today, only four of which were identified. They are: Mrs. Robert Morgan, Andrew Peterson, Iva Ashbaugh and Mrs. S. McBride….” (Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Clearing Away Debris.” 6-23-1903, p. 1.)
Sources
Anaconda Standard, MT. “More Bodies Are Found.” 6-21-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/anaconda-standard-jun-21-1903-p-1/
Burt, Christopher C. and Mark Stroud. Extreme Weather: A Guide & Record Book. W. W. Norton & Co., 2004, 304 pages. Google preview accessed 1-1-2014 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=NuP7ATq9nWgC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
Byrd, Joann Green. Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009, 202 pages.
Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. EM DAT Database. Louvain, Belgium: Universite Catholique do Louvain. Accessed at: http://www.emdat.be/
Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Death List Is Growing. Corpses Being Found Miles Away From The Town of Heppner.” 6-19-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/bakersfield-daily-californian-jun-19-1903-p-1/
Daily Californian, Bakersfield. “Hundreds Drowned and Town Wiped Out.” 6-15-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/daily-californian-jun-15-1903-p-1/
DenOuden, Bob. “Heppner flood of 1903.” The Oregon Encyclopedia, 9-14-2017 update. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/heppner_flood/#.WhylvTdrynJ
Eau Claire Leader, WI. “More Bodies Recovered.” 6-24-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/eau-claire-leader-jun-24-1903-p-1/
Heppner Chamber of Commerce, OR. Heppner Flood of 1903. Taken from Harold C. Donner, The East Oregonian, 6-12-1953. Accessed 11-28-2017 at: http://www.heppnerchamber.com/flood1903
History.com. This Day in History, Disaster, June 14, 1903. “Flash Flood Devastates Oregon Town.” Accessed 12-7-2008 at: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&displayDate=06/14&categoryId=disaster
Ludlum, David M. The American Weather Book. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1982.
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Portland, OR. Oregon’s Top 10 Weather Events of 1900s. Accessed 11-12-2009 at: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/paststorms/index.php
New York Times. “Former Floods Have Cost Many Lives.” 6-5-1921. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D06EEDA1739E133A25756C0A9609C946095D6CF
Oakland Tribune, CA. “Bodies of Victims Found in the Debris.” 6-17-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jun-17-1903-p-1/
Oakland Tribune, CA. “Four Hundred Numbered Among The Dead.” 6-16-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jun-16-1903-p-1/
Oakland Tribune, CA. “One More Body is Recovered.” 6-20-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jun-20-1903-p-1/
Oakland Tribune, CA. “Pitiful Scenes at Heppner.” 6-18-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-jun-18-1903-p-1/
Oregon State Archives. Oregon Historical County Records Guide. Morrow County History. Accessed 11-12-2009 at: http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/county/cpmorrowhome.html
Perry, Charles A. Significant Floods in the United States During the 20th Century – USGS Measures a Century of Floods (USGS Fact Sheet 024-00). USGS Kansas Water Science Center, March 2000, Accessed 8-21-2017 at: http://ks.water.usgs.gov/pubs/fact-sheets/fs.024-00.html
Salt Lake Tribune, UT. “Clearing Away Debris.” 6-23-1903, p. 1. Accessed 11-27-2017 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/salt-lake-tribune-jun-23-1903-p-3/
Sullivan, William L. Oregon’s Greatest Natural Disasters. Eugene, OR: Navillus Press, 2008.
Additional Reading
Highberger, Mark. Days of Sorrow: The Story of the Heppner Flood of 1903, Oregon’s Most Deadly Natural Disaster. Wallowa, OR: Bear Creek press, 2003.
[1] While the headline notes 400 deaths, the second sentence in the article notes “The casualty list will foot up 500 lives and many of the bodies may never be recovered.” Later, though, it is noted that 110 bodies were recovered and another 150 people were missing. Still later, in the next column, is a report from Spokane dated June 16 stating “that thus far the bodies of 200 victims…have been found. Two hundred more are supposed to be hidden in the ruins…”
[2] Not used in estimated fatality range in that this was a guestimate just after the flood and based on telephone calls.
[3] “About 200 people were simply swept away from the community….The flood also wreaked havoc on surrounding farms, killing another 125 people.” We do not use this number in our tally, however, in that we find no support for “another 125 people” killed on surrounding farms. It is true that Heppner residents were washed downstream and many were found miles away from Heppner. Sullivan writes that in the next town downstream from Heppner, Lexington, “No one had died” when the flash flood came through at about 7:00. [p.111] Similarly, no one reportedly died at Ione, about another eight miles down from Lexington.
[4] In the nest column over and down from note of 350 to 500 “believed to have been drowned.” Is a note of “A message to Arlington, Ore., direct from Heppner [which] says three hundred were drowned in the cloud burst.”
[5] “Eventually, 247 bodies were recovered, though many reports still list the casualty count at 251.”
[6] “The number of people who died in the Heppner Flood will never be know for certain. I hold the Heppner Floor responsible for about 245 deaths. ‘About’ is a necessary qualifier, because of the immediate after-flood chaos, the hurry to get bodies buried in the heat, the presence in town of maybe fifty visitors, the large number of children whom volunteers in the morgue couldn’t recognize, and the frightful condition of the bodies. My research counts 238 killed directly by the flood People I am sure were victims (including a woman who died two years later of her injuries), a handful I’m 99.9 percent certain about, the fourteen travelers who never came back for their luggage (and who, so far as we know, never showed up elsewhere), and twenty-seven whose bodies nobody could identify. I am adding seven more people who would not have did had there not been a Heppner Flood. They were living downstream from Heppner, in Lexington and Ione, and died of typhoid that autumn after their wells were contaminated in June.”
[7] These deaths, Byrd writes, were immediate deaths. As noted above, she believes there was a higher death toll.
[8] “One hundred and seventy-seven bodies have been recovered up to date [June 23] and thirty-five persons are missing.” Sub-headline of article reads “Death List at Heppner, Ore., Above Two Hundred.”
[9] A salesman staying in a room on the second floor of the Palace Hotel reported seeing “what appeared to be a great pyramid of rolling dirty wool. Projecting from this at every conceivable angle, writhing, twisting, and tumbling but ever moving onward with the speed of an express train, were trees houses, great rocks and tons of earth. The wall of water was fully 30 feet in height…” (Salesman Tooker in Byrd, p. 8.)
[10] Cites: Leslie M. Scott, in “A City of Death,” Oregonian, June 17, 1903. Notes that one man, Arthur Ducket, stayed in his room and survived.