Day 71. July 15, 2019. Heppner Oregon

It's Day 71...it's also July 15, 2019....And we are in Heppner Oregon.

Hey there...and Welcome back! So where was I?

Oh yea! Exiting Interstate 84 at the east end of the Columbia River Gorge and headed off to explore Oregons Blue Mountain Scenic Byway. First stop....Heppner Oregon

Heppner calls itself the “Gateway to the Blues,” the commercial and recreational center for the nearby Blue Mountains and Umatilla National Forest. The region is a popular destination for hunting, off-highway-vehicle riding and, thanks to some higher elevations that sometimes bring winter snows, snowmobiling and skiing can be added to the list of activities. Closer to town, four streams and the Willow Creek Reservoir provide good fishing. We would spend an evening in the Willow Creek RV park enjoying the views of this reservoir learning about Heppner. After several days of boon docking in Rufus....I figured a night in an actual RV park with full hookups would be nice...and it was.

I would also chock up another quick lesson or two about life in an RV. First up....cell coverage...yep...its a thing. Guess I never much paid attention to it...when it's always there. But if your looking for a way to turn your 800 dollar cell phone into a paper weight....or at best....camera....then just head out into this part of the country. It would be nearly 3 days later before my cellphone pinged and buzzed back to life just oustide Baker City Oregon, just before crossing over into Idaho. I would also spend the first twenty minutes in our RV spot trying to get the 500 dollar cell signal booster I had bought back home...as far into the air as I could on an extendable pole using everything from bungee chords to zip ties only the figure out that if there is no signal to boost....well ya theres that.

Same would go for the new digital antennae I had installed. There would be no TV for us in this area either. Thank goodness for DVD's and the Tivo box....and the next day....

A historic walking tour of downtown Heppner includes the clock tower, converted to an electronic mechanism in the 1950s, and now restored to its original weighted pendulum, which requires winding every eight days. The Morrow County Museum houses a fine collection of pioneer and agricultural artifacts, and chronicles the region’s great flood of 1903. More about that in a minute.

First....on our way into Heppner....we would trek Into and thru the Umatilla National Forest

The byway narrows and twists as it departs the highway, winding through hills and canyons on Willow Creek Road and into the 1.4-million-acre Umatilla National Forest. Right at the National Forest border, Cutsforth Park has a campground and cabins for rent. Visitors will find ample trailheads for camping, hiking, horseback riding, or even trekking thru the mountains on OHVs and mountain bikes.

A half-hour side trip south on FR-5327 and 5316 leads to Potamus Point, offering a magnificent canyon view of the Wild and Scenic North Fork John Day River drainage. Keep a look out for bighorn sheep that were reintroduced into the canyon

The Ukiah Basin four miles past Ukiah on the byway, and the Bridge Creek Wildlife Area provides important wintering grounds for Rocky Mountain elk. More than 1,000 elk gather here between December and May to escape deep snows at higher elevations.

Further east, an overlook along the route provides another spectacular view into the North Fork John Day drainage and the North Fork John Day Wilderness. Established in 1984, the wilderness area protects the headwaters of the John Day River, the third longest undammed river in the Lower 48 states.

The North Fork John Day Campground marks the east end of the Blue Mountain Scenic Byway. It serves as a popular base for trout and steelhead fishing, or for exploring the Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway, which intersects here.

So thats some of what Oregon's official website has to say about the Blue Mountain Scenic Byway....what about our travels through the area,,,

So back to Heppner.

First...just like everywhere we have been so far....the area was discovered....and inhabited by Native Americans for over 10,000 years before discovery and settlement by the White Euro American Settlers. Ancient Petroglyphs have been found 45 miles or so north of Heppner in Irrigon and Boardman that further document this activity.

Prior to Heppners founding in 1872...European American ranchers used the area for sheep and cattle range as early as 1858. Records suggest that these early cattlemen found abundant rye grasses along creek bottoms continuing to draw settlement to the area.

Heppner was originally called Standsbury Flats....after George W Standsbury...one of the first European settlers to arrive in the area.

In 1872 Col. Jackson Lee Morrow, a merchant entered into a partnership with Henry Heppner...another prominent businessman. They built a store on the crossing of the present day May and Main. Later...the town, and the county would be named for these two early settlers, and Heppner would be named the county seat for Morrow County. Heppner would be incorporated in February of 1887.

Soon thereafter, a mail and stagecoach line began operations between Pendalton and the Dalles passing through Heppner.

Heppner would continue to thrive as an agricultural hub as well as a commerce center for the surrounding farming communities for years. A real boone for the town would happen in 1888 when a railway line would be completed connecting Heppner with the Columbia River Gorge area making commerce accessible between Portland and the inland eastern corner of the state.

And then...June of 1903 Happened....and with it...the Heppner Flood. To this day...a major flash flood along Willow Creek remains the deadliest natural distater in Oregon's history and the second deadliest flash flood in the history of the United States. 247 people died that night in Heppner...and the flood caused over 600k in damage...the equivalent of 19.5 million in damages by todays standards.

Here's what happened....

After an exceptionally dry spring, strong thunderstorms moved over the Heppner area, resulting in torrential rain and hail storms.

The region's arid climate and little vegetation, coupled with the ground already being wet from a storm three days earlier, caused very little water to be absorbed by the soil. Within 15 minutes water had rushed down the streams, mainly the Balm Fork, toward Heppner. A steam laundry building initially acted as a dam when the water arrived...but failed under the stress minutes later.

This would send an estimated 20 to 40 foot wall of water cascading down willow creek and quickly reducing many of Heppners structures to rubble.

At it's peak...over 36000 cubic feet per second of water raced down willow creek...which, by the way...is more than the average flow of the much larger Willamette river to the west.

Many of the towns residents were able to escape to higher ground.....but sadly...247 were not...and lost their lives. At the time...this loss of life represented nearly a quarter of the towns population. The flood washed away 140 structures which was 1/3 of the town.

Two brave residents of Heppner, Les Matlock and Bruce Kelly, recognized what was happening.....seeing the impending doom for Heppner...they somehow managed to keep their wits about them....I can't even imagine how I would react when realizing where I lived was about to be hit by a wall of water....but these two....they each grabbed a horse and raced down stream to the neighboring communities of Lexington and Ione warning the residents of those two towns of the disastor that was just minutes behind them. A memorial to these two would later be erected in Heppners town center documenting their bravery....and how they managed to look beyond their impending loss....and race to the next town to prevent the same loss of life in their neighboring communities. Nearly 500 people called Lexington and Ione home at the time and both would sustain property loss.... but neither town reported any deaths as a result of the flood...no doubt, thanks in large part to the split second warning their neighbors brought them. All three communites would experience around 20 casualties in the months after the flood as the result of a typhoid epidemic. The flood had wreaked havoc with the primative septic systems of the time causing unknown water contamination.

As I stood in front of the memorial to this tragic event in Heppners History....and the brave actions of these two men I wondered....how could one of the deadliest natural disastors in American history be lost to just that...history.....a quote from a publication called crosscut kinda sorta cleared that up for me. Turns out....the curageous pioneers that came before us....and made this place happen as we know it today....they were inclined not to ruminate on things over which they were powerless to change. They simply looked forward. A lesson I will very well take with me from this place called Heppner Oregon.....why would I waste energy on things that have already happened....I cannot change them.....I have no control over them....my only control....is what I do with myself....next.

Cross cut also describes Heppner as a place...not on the way to many other places...and Heppners own town website today proclaims itself one of the gems of Oregon. A place where you enter the town a stranger....and leave as a friend.

So it appears I have a new friend...and a new perspective! Thanks Heppner.

I also found it interesting that the tragic flood in 1903 clearly demonstrated the need for flood control in the area...but the communities would wait nearly 70 years before construction of the Willow Creek dam would take place. Some reading tells me that the delays were due to a few different things.

first, the the technology at the time simply did not exist to complete projects of such mass and technolical scale. In addition...as technology and know how developed...funding became an issue. Area's effecting much larger metro areas would receive funding and prioritization well ahead of areas like Heppner and surrounding communities. It would not be until 1969 when geological studies in the area began. Ten years later..the project would be allocated 50 million dollars breaking ground in 1979. The dam would be completed in 1983 well under budget at 37 million. The willow creek damn also holds the distinction of being the first major damn in the United States using roller compacted concrete.

Having that distinction has led to decades of debate, even argument over the dams performance. Roller compacted concrete...which is essentially a process through which the concrete is mixed in different ratio's...and sometimes even different materials altogether....the installation process is much different as well. Within two years of the damns completion...the reservior was drained in order to address seapage issues. While seapage was reduced significantly...there is still depate around over current seapage levels are acceptable. Additional additions and modifications have been made to the dam over the years addressing not only these seapage issues...but concerns around water contamination and a chemical process potentially degrading the concrete over time. One of the larger depates to come out of the project involve the politics around using small towns as experiments for new construction technologies.

Beyond the dam and reservior...The town is also home to two museums...which for a town of 1200 is more than just a little notable. First...

The Morrow County Museum showcases the areas history and houses one of the finest collection of artifacts related to pioneer life, homesteading, agriculture, and rural history in the Northwest. The museum dives headfirst into the impact of the Oregon Trail which bisects Morrow County.

Despite the desolate landscape through which the pioneers passed, their dreams of a green Oregon kept them moving forward.

The collection includes hundreds of photographs documenting the social, economic, and technological development of Morrow County.

Exhibits cover a wide range of topics, from agricultural history to the Native American presence in the county, rural medical care, and the infamous Heppner Flood.

The museum also houses an agricultural equipment display encompassing over a city block of the mechanical inventions that pioneers first conceptualized...then perfected to help in the development of agriculture in the area. While taking photo's of these early pieces of Americana things we would come to call tractors...one can only imagine what it must have felt like to spend hours on the iron seat of one of the engineering marvels tilling through the fertil landscapes for hours on end....stopping only to gas up and dream about what the future might hold with the upcoming harvest.

Next, while not a traditional museum...the Morrow County Courthouse itself is a historic gem in its own right. Built in 1909. It stands as a testament to this county's past having witnessed countless legal proceedings, community gatherings and other significant moments in Morrow County's history.

Thru all of this.....early prosperity....a tragic flood...and the politics of the area today...heppners strong ties to its German, Swedish, and Irish heritage remains. Generational claims to the area are strong...and welcoming to passers by....and if you want to stay a bit...and plant roots....they welcome that as well.

We pulled out of Heppner on a Beautiful July morning to check out the rest of the Blue Mountain Scenic byway.....

I wonder what we'll learn there!