'Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903': a deadly deluge in a small town

'Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903'

by Joann Byrd

University of Washington Press, 256 pp., $22.50

Eastern Oregon native and retired journalist Joann Green Byrd blends her personal and professional backgrounds well in this history of the devastating 1903 flood in Heppner, Ore.

Like many calamities, Byrd notes in "Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903," no one thing caused this sudden tragedy. A violent thunderstorm hit overgrazed, eroded hills above the prosperous little town at about 5 p.m. June 14, sending rain and hail speeding directly into Willow Creek and Balm Fork, where water soon raged "as high as the tallest barn in the county." Settlers had chosen a location below and downstream from this confluence, failing to recognize it was "a natural bull's-eye for flash floods."

Fifty minutes later, Heppner was deep in mud and ice, splintered homes and shops, uprooted trees, dead livestock and human bodies. Eventually, the death toll numbered an estimated 245 of about 1,290 residents. The telegraph line was down, the railroad tracks gone. Power for electric lights was cut off.

Byrd paints a vivid picture of the wreckage. But there was no time for grieving, she observes, with temperatures in the 90s. Martial law was declared. Help arrived from surrounding communities — construction crews, food, money, tools and farm implements, mattresses and bedding, even musical entertainment to lift everyone's spirits. Little medical assistance was necessary; most victims had died.

While sorrow for losses still remains, pioneer pride and relief aid restored Heppner outwardly. In 1983, Willow Creek Dam was dedicated. Byrd's compelling, heartbreaking story — and its interesting comparisons to some contemporary disasters such as Hurricane Katrina — paints a vivid picture of human resilience.