Larry E. Morris - The 1959 Yellowstone Earthquake

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A quarter century ago, Carole Painter, the first person I interviewed about the 1959 Yellowstone earthquake, was very gracious in meeting with me and answering my questions. My association with the Painter family came full circle during the last year, when Caroles sister Anita Painter Thon, the author of two excellent books about the disaster, helped me on several occasions. My heartfelt thanks to both of them.

I owe a similar debt of gratitude to two others who also lost family members in the earthquake: Martin Stryker and Terry Stowe. I consider it an honor to help preserve the memory of their loved ones.

It was a privilege to talk with Glen Stevens, who passed away in 1999, nine years before his death. I appreciate his friendliness and helpfulness.

I was born in Idaho Falls, a stones throw from the Snake River, and grew up there. The earthquake area was two hours away, and not long after the site was opened to the public in 1960, my parents, Gene and Velma Morris; my sister, Lorraine; my brother, Kent; and I toured the Madison River Canyon. That experience, especially seeing the names on the plaque, made a powerful and permanent impression on me, and in the 1980s, my wife, Deborah, and I took our childrenIsaac, Courtney, Justin and Whitneyto see Earthquake Lake, the slide and the plaque. I appreciate the support of all these loved ones and the sympathy they have shown for the victims as I have worked on this book over the years.

Thanks to Brian Cannon and his colleagues at the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies, Brigham Young University. The Redd Center funded research in the great state of Montana. During that and subsequent trips, I was assisted by librarians and archivists at the Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections, University of Montana, Missoula; the Montana Historical Society, Helena; and the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City. Thanks go to all of them. Special thanks go to Rachel Phillips and her associates at the Gallatin History Museum in Bozeman.

Thanks are due to Lee H. Whittlesey, Yellowstone National Park historian and author of Death in Yellowstone: Accidents and Foolhardiness in the First National Park, for writing the foreword to this book and to Blake Gulbransen for producing such informative maps.

I appreciate the encouragement of two of my Montana friends, Adam Brooks and Molly Holz.

Thanks go to my former colleagues at the Church History Library of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for their encouragement and their scholarship, especially Mark Ashurst-McGee, Jenny Lund, Mark Staker, Eric Smith, Ron Esplin, Joe and Kay Darowski, Rachel Osborne, Constance Lewis, Nate Waite, Kathryn Burnside, Mandy Owens, Linda Hunter Adams, Sharon Nielsen, Gerrit Dirkmaat, Michael MacKay, Bill Slaughter, Michael Landon and Reid Neilson.

I am grateful for the help of Dan Donegan, John Owen and Bill Conley, all of whom were involvedbut, fortunately, not injuredin the earthquake. I also received valuable assistance from one of the smokejumpers who parachuted in to help victims, Bob Nicol. My thanks go to him.

Thanks go to Artie Crisp and Julia Turner, my editors at The History Press, who have been great to work with.

Last of all, I am grateful for the help of Joanne Girvin, Visitor Services Information assistant with the Forest Services Earthquake Lake Visitor Center, and Tootie Greene, the nurse who helped so many injured people that long night after the earthquake. I believe the two of them have done more than anyone else to preserve the incredible story of what happened on August 17, 1959, and during the hours and days afterward.

APPENDIX A

LIST OF INDIVIDUALS EVACUATED FROM THE EARTHQUAKE AREA

The following list released by the Associated Press is reprinted below exactly as it was originally published in the Billings Gazette on August 21, 1959. Corrections by the author are shown in brackets.

BOZEMAN (AP)Here is a partial list of evacuees who left the southwest Montana earthquake zone by way of Dug Creek, Wyo., and Bozeman, Mont., obtained through the Red Cross, Montana Highway Patrol and the U.S. Forest Service:

(Addresses unavailable where not listed)

Caraway, West [Les] and wife, from Hebgen Dam.

McFarland, Gerald; wife and daughter, Salem, Ore.

Yaklish, A.J., Woodenville, Wash.

Thompson, Mike, Udall, Kan.

Maxwell, V., Jr.

Thompson, June; man, woman, daughter, and aunt.

Martin, A.F.

Davis, Mrs. Ben.

Drake, Miss Goldie.

Davis, B.W., Tarlton, Miss.

Sanders, Leland L., wife, daughter, Ina Jean, Roy, Utah.

Thomas, Mrs. David, three children, Nye, Mont.

Rogers, Mrs. Charles, three children, Roundup, Mont.

Wood, Mrs. Ethel, son Harry, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Curtis, L.H. and wife, Pasadena, Calif.

Balack, Clarence M., wife, one small girl, mother-in-law, Middleton, Mrs. Erma, Tucson, Ariz.

Blaydon, Richard, wife, North Hollywood, Calif.

Tovias, Louis; wife Kay, daughter Karen, Akron, Ohio.

Lorenze, Mrs. Fred, Akron, Ohio.

Genderson, Gilbert, Bellevue, Wash.

Willie, James B., Tacoma, Wash.

Badoviwax, John; wife, two children, Seattle, Wash.

Burley, Robert; wife.

Goodnough, Jack; wife, three children, Albion, Wash.

Wils, Wilfor; wife, four children, Brigham City, Utah.

Davis, John B.; Carolyn, Pocatello, Idaho.

Wizel, Fred; wife, four children, Aberdeen, Wash.

Hudson, Charotta, Twin Falls, Idaho.

Rost, Eleanor.

Greenaway.

Kraeter, Eugene G.; wife, Jean, Concord, Mass.

Bernard, Hayward; wife, three sons, Escondido, Calif.

Melchon.

Cooper, William E.

Webb, Glenn.

Engle, F.N., wife, Garden Grove, Calif.

Robert W. Dean, wife, two children, Nancy, Cynthia, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Daea, John Sr., Great Falls, Mont.

Stranger, J.F. and Leo.

Triempower, E.

Buser, Jack; wife, Harrisburg, Penn.

Bateman, Rex; wife, Utah.

Hobeson, C.W.; wife, two boys, Estan and Gary.

Three Painter children, Ogden, Utah.

Own, O.B., Culver City, Calif.

Searcy, J. Spencer; wife, Don, Ralph, Lina, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Potter, Robert; wife, son Barry, 122 Custer Ave., Billings, Mont.

Bacon, Rodney E.; wife Alice, Santa Ana, Calif.

Bowns, Mr. and Mrs. Terry Eugene, and Jo Ann, Salt Lake City.

Plaga, Jean; Pat, Salt Lake City.

Staley, Dr. Elden D.; Barbara V., Richard E., Leland V., Jeanne, Claudia, Rock Springs, Wyo.

Weston, H.G. and Mrs. Weston, San Jose; two nephews, Stephen and Billy Conley.

Olson, Mr. and Mrs. Bernie, Kent, Wash., four children, John, Fred, Gloria and Joanne.

Vernon, Richard Lynn; Annebel, Coalville, Utah.

Blakley, Howard S.; Adline D., Cheryl L., Dale H., 810 Connie Ave., Rock Springs, Wyo.

Nomura, Dr. Frank Shimpie; Francis, Connie, Kan.

Maeda, Frank S.; Dorothy, Los Angeles.

White, Warren Bruce; wife, Frederick, Ruth Ann, Indianapolis, Ind.

Reppat, Leonard V.; wife, Topeka, Kan.

Davis, Charles; wife, Terry, Lake George, Colo.

Maxwell, Vern; wife, Steve, Kim, State Center, Iowa.

Barton, Mrs. Tom, State Center, Iowa.

Burbank, August L.; wife, Susan, Richard, Eugene,

Louisa, Penelope, Melani, Brigham City, Utah.

Lavett, Tehdore Avery; wife, Salt Lake City.

Greene, Ray; wife, Steve, 2312 10th North, Billings, Mont.

Kennedy, Larry, Dayton, Ohio.

Morse, Mrs., Salt Lake City, Utah.

Jensen, Mr., Salt Lake City, Utah.

Donny, Mr. and wife, Vandalia, Ohio.

Campbell, Clark O.; wife, Ross O., Cathy Jean, Box 274, Lovell, Wyo.