[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 85 (Wednesday, June 11, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1231-E1232]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        COMMEMORATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE HEPPNER FLOOD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GREG WALDEN

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 11, 2003

  Mr. WALDEN of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in observance of one 
of the most tragic events in the history of Oregon and a defining 
chapter in the story of the small town of Heppner. June 14, 2003, will 
mark the 100th anniversary of the Heppner Flood, a natural catastrophe 
of unprecedented scale in my state that took the lives of 247 
Oregonians, almost a quarter of the town's 1,146 residents. Though 
generations have passed since the people of Heppner witnessed nature's 
awesome, destructive wrath, even today the residents of this resilient 
community carry with them the painful memory of the devastation that 
occurred a full century ago.
  June 14, 1903, was like any other Sunday in the peaceful town of 
Heppner, when the humble, God-fearing townspeople went about their 
lives, worshipping together and resting from a week spent toiling in 
their fields, minding their stores and tending their flocks and herds. 
As evening approached, none sensed the pending calamity that would 
befall the close-knit community and alter the lives of its residents 
forever.
  Mr. Speaker, the rain came in an instant, swelling streams and 
unleashing a torrent that careened toward the town and destroyed 
everything in its wake. Trees were uprooted, structures crushed liked 
matchbox houses and homes and livestock were swept away in the deadly 
cascade. So, too, were many of the people of Heppner--men, women and 
children who drowned by the hundreds. An account of the disaster in the 
East Oregonian newspaper later estimated that more than three billion 
pounds of water passed through Heppner that night at a rate of 70 
million pounds per minute.
  Whole families were swept from the face of the earth, joining the 
horrendous flotsam of bodies and debris that rushed forward and 
disappeared into the churning water. With astonishing and merciless 
speed, the Heppner Flood destroyed the town's water system, ruined the 
railroad, took down telegraph lines and collapsed the bridges over 
Willow Creek. In a few short minutes, what had been a sleepy, idyllic 
Oregon town was transformed into a seething, watery graveyard. Scarcely 
a resident of the town could be found who had not lost a friend or 
family member or suffered the loss of property. Many of the hundreds of 
dead lay buried in the Heppner Masonic Cemetery, where today their 
descendants tend their graves and honor their precious memories.
  The outpouring of assistance from nearby communities following this 
tragedy said much about the compassion and humanity of the people of 
the Northwest. In a poignant letter to Heppner's Mayor, Frank Gilliam, 
three little girls in Colfax, Washington, sent $11 they collected by 
selling homemade candy to help victims of the flood. Mayor Gilliam, 
touched by the gesture, wrote a note of thanks that tragically captured 
the sorrow that had been visited upon his town. ``Two weeks ago 
yesterday morning, Heppner was a happy little town,'' he wrote. ``Our 
church bells rang and our little ones sang songs of praise and 
worshipped by their mother's side. Evening came, and with it the storm, 
and many of our precious little children were carried away to worship 
at the throne of God. Those who have gone before are happy now, while 
those of us who remain are sad. Sad because of the little ones who are 
no more--who cannot be with us to cheer our weary way.''
  Mr. Speaker, a century has passed since the disaster, yet the Heppner 
Flood remains the worst natural disaster in the history of Oregon. 
Though the buildings that had been torn down would be rebuilt, the 
fields would be replanted and herds replenished, the overwhelming human 
loss would remain like an open wound, the horror of the flood a 
constant nightmare from which the survivors would never awaken. In my 
travels to Heppner, I have come to know many descendants of both

[[Page E1232]]

survivors and victims of the flood. It is a profound honor to represent 
them in the House of Representatives.
  Mr. Speaker, as a tribute to the victims of this devastating event, I 
ask that my colleagues observe one minute of respectful silence.

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