Ricks College Idaho State Historical Society History Department, Utah State University TETON DAM DISASTER. Marilyn Hansen Sonderegger

Transcription

1 TETON ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM Ricks College Idaho State Historical Society History Department, Utah State University TETON DAM DISASTER Marilyn Hansen Sonderegger Interviewed by Christina C. Sorensen Project made possible by funds from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Idaho State Legislature through the Idaho State Historical Society and National Endowment for the Humanities

2 UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY & RICKS COLLEGE HISTORY DEPARTMENTS COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT THROUGH LOCAL HISTORY ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM INTERVIEWER AGREEMENT In view of the historical and scholarly value of this information 'contained in the interview with fx-roc krocner, I, (name, please print) (interviewer, print) knowingly and voluntarily permit the Milton R. Merrill Library at Utah State University, the David O. McKay Library at Ricks College, and the Idaho State Historical Society at Boise, Idaho, the full rights and use of this information. se,c_rupcs-11 Interviewer's Signature 25 AugtqTi Date

3 UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY & RICKS COLLEGE HISTORY DEPARTMENTS COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT THROUGH LOCAL HISTORY ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM INTERVIEWEE AGREEMENT You have been interviewed in connection with a joint oral history program of the History Department, Utah State University, Ricks College, and the Idaho State Historical Society. The purpose of this oral history program is to gather and preserve information for historical and scholarly use. A tape recording of your interview has been made by the interviewer. A verbatim typescript of the tape will be made and a final typed and edited transcripts, together with the tape will be made and a final will then be filed in the Milton R. Merrill Library Special Collections, David 0. McKay Library at Ricks College, and the Idaho State Historical Society in Boise. This material will be made available according to each of the depositories' policies for research be scholars and by others for scholarly purposes. When the final transcript is completed, a personal copy will_be sent to you. * * * * * In view of the historical and scholarly value of this information, I, pactrilqh L Sohd ere- criey-, do hereby assign full ((please print full nape) and all rights of this material to the Merrill Library at Utah State University, to the Library at Ricks College, and to the Idaho State Historical Society at Boise, Idaho, for scholarly purposes according to each of the institutions governing policies. nterviewee s Signature/ // /7 7 Date

4 ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWEE: Marilyn Hansen Sonderegger INTERVIEWER: Christina Sorensen DATE: August 25, 1977 TETON DAM DISASTER C: Marilyn, would you spell your name please? M: Marilyn Sonderegger. C: How old are you? M: Fifty. C: Where were you born? M: San Diego, California. C: How long have you lived in Sugar City? M: Since C: What was your address at the time of the flood? M: 215 South Teton Avenue, Sugar City, Idaho. C: Is that where you are living now? M: Yes. C: Did you own your own home prior to the flood? M: Yes. C: Do you have a family? M: Yes, we have three children. C: Were all of you living at home? M: No, one is married, but the rest of us were here. C: Are you employed at all? M: No. C: Prior to the construction of the Teton Dam were you opposed or in favor of it? If so, what were your reasons?

5 SONDEREGGER -2- M: I was in favor of it because I knew that water preservation is extremely valuable to this area. There was a lot of controversy we heard from the environmentalists. I felt that water conservation was needed at that time. We didn't know that there would be any danger at all! C: Looking back to that morning when the dam broke, do you recall where you were and what you were doing when you first heard the dam was breaking and what was you reaction? M: I was in the house getting lunch. The two youngest children were with me while my husband was out in the garden transplanting strawberries--watering them by hand. The phone rang. It was our married son in Rexburg calling. As I was visiting with him, my husband came in and said, "Marilyn, they are saying on the radio that the Teton Dam has broken and that there is a 20 foot wave coming toward us. We should leave immediately and take nothing." I said to my son on the phone, "The Teton Dam has broken! Get here immediately!" He traveled four miles and must have broken all speed records because he got here it seemed like in two minutes. We weren't frightened yet. My heart started to pound but we weren't afraid. We started doing a few things we thought we ought to do, thinking there might be two or three feet of water, but it would spread out by the time it got here. I thought my wicker furniture on the patio would go, so I grabbed that and put it in the house. I thought of our family records, genealogy, from years back to the 1600's. One line was even traced back to Adam. In deciding what to do with those records I thought, "They are okay because they are in the top drawer of the chest. I won't have to worry about those." We went around the house starting to put a few things up on the table. We thought that would keep them from getting wet. I grabbed my

6 SONDEREGGER -3- three jewelry boxes that were sitting on the dresser thinking, "If we should need money I could sell my jewelry." I know that we really were not that concerned because we went around calmly. My husband said, "I will notify people." I said, "I'll do the same." He and our son went in the truck and in Ferron Jr.'s car. I went in our car taking the two younger children with me. We went up and down the streets yelling at everyone we could see. We didn't know how much time we had. Then we went back home. The children wanted to get the cat. When they called he came immediately. As we were taking him to the car, my husband said, "You'd better leave." He threw some coats and sleeping bags in the back of the truck and said, "I still want to notify a few people. I'll meet you up at the Benson's on the hill." They're our son's in-laws in Rexburg. Then he said again, "You'd better leave. We'll see what else we can do." As we were heading out of town, we went passed the Glen Clark home and the Stewart home. They are older couples without children--in their 70's and not very well. It looked like everybody had cleared out of the area, but I said, "I wonder if Brother and Sister Clark or Brother and Sister Stewart know?" I asked our son, Chris, and our daughter, Holly to run and check. Holly went to Stewarts, but no one was there. Chris went to Clarks and they were still there. They hadn't heard the dam had broken. Their car wasn't working so we told them to come with us. As we brought them out, Brother Clark had tears streaming down his face. We took them up to the college where the radio said people should go. Their house was completely destroyed; not even a board was found. We felt kind of good that we notified people and did save several lives rather than grabbing a lot of material things. We could probably have stayed

7 SONDEREGGER -4- an hour longer, but we didn't know that at the time. Even if we had stayed longer there was such a line of cars streaming into Rexburg later that it would have been difficult to get in that line of cars. I think probably the thing that saved lives was that when people were told to leave they believed and left. A few did stay, some lived, some didn't. People left and we didn't seem to be too concerned with material things just more or less with each other. C: When you got to Ricks College were you able to watch the water coming into Sugar City and Rexburg? M: Yes, we could see it. We left the Clarks at the College. I believe we signed in, they were telling us to so that people could know where we were going to be. I went over to Lynn Bensons' and my husband came. We stood and watched and could see it coming. It looked like a big brownish gray mass as it came, with a big whirlwind in front. You could see that from a distance, but as we used binnoculars we could see it more clearly. I said to my husband, "What are you going to do?" He looked at me a little strangely and I said, "Remember, you are the stake president." Then as we embraced he said, "I'll see you later, I'd better call Salt Lake." He got on the telephone--that was before the telephone service was out--and got through to the L.D.S. Church Welfare services in Salt Lake and told them what was happening and what our needs would be--diapers, blankets, first-aid supplies, and things like that. Shortly after that the telephone service went out. All contact had to be made by radio, I was able to call my mother in Logan, Utah, before the phone service went out and tell her that we were all right. C: How did you feel when you saw the water coming in and realized what was probably happening to your home? M: Surprisngly, I didn't think too much about it. My family was there at the Benson's and I was helping fix food for supper, We seemed to be more concerned

8 SONDEREGGER.5. with momentary needs. I really don't remember feeling at anytime a real sense of worry about my home. I didn't feel that much, I knew it was coming and there wasn't anything I could do about it. C: When you first went back to your home, what sort of things did you find and how did you feel about that? M: Our son walked in on Sunday. My husband had called a meeting for our stake, 4700 people. He called it for Saturday evening, June 5, at 6:00, using the loud- speakers throughout the area. We had a conference at the college and he talked to everyone. Everyone knew what had happened. I didn't see any panic, After we had a prayer and a song, "Come, Come Ye Saints", Ferron in his calm, but strong way, encouraged and explained what had happened and what we should do. He told us that we would have to roll up our sleeves and go to work and we did. He especially warned women and children not to return to their homes until it was safe. Sunday, our son and his brother-in-law, Bruce Benson, walked into Sugar City. They were able to get in by going through Moody wearing hip boots. They came back and told us that the house was still there, but it was completely destroyed. Ferron Jr. said, "Most everything is gone out of it. What is left is not much." He brought a few clothes that he could find because we had left in our housecoats and slippers; we had only that which was on our backs. He brought in a few clothes and we were able to get them washed to be able to wear. There weren't any shoes left, It was Tuesday when my husband said, "I think it is safe for you to go in now." He was quite protective of me and the children. There were worries and fears about disease, because the floodwater had passed through the sewer ponds and through barnyards. It was quite a mess. Our son brought me over on Tuesday about 11:00 in the morning, I think they-were all worried that I would start to cry. We came in and there was so much water and mud and I still

9 SONDEREGGER -6- didn't have any shoes or boots. I had on my houseslippers, so he brought me in piggyback. He is a big strapping 6'4" boy, and he brought me in piggyback. My husband wasn't with us because he was working on the needs of the people. The children came and there was so much mud that when we'd try to stand in it or take a step we would fall over. It was like quicksand. You'd sink down in and couldn't pull your foot out. I went through the house and said, "There are a lot of things in here we can save." I know our Heavenly Father was with all of us because we never did see - panic or deep shock. People just laughed and joked. I found a ship that I had and I came bringing it out of the house and said, "Look this is Noah's ark." I think everybody was trying to laugh over the situation and nobody wanted to shed tears. We all wanted to be so brave and show what we were made of that no one let anybody know what was really going on inside. As we went through the things that day, I could see that there were quite a few things that could be. salvaged. I knew that the home was destroyed. That was quite a special day because of the Red Cross and various church groups. Young people from the outlying areas had fixed sandwiches and cookies and brought pop to people who were trying to salvage anything they could. They would come up and down the streets and say, Are you hungry?" We say, "We're starved:" They had worked, some of them I think all night, making food to bring us. That was such a welcome sight to know that someone was interested in us. A very special thing occurred that day when Bishop Victor L. Brown, who is the Presiding Bishop of the L.D.S. church, and Sister Barbara Smith, who is the President of the Relief Society for the whole church, came and said, "We'd like to go through your home." They shook hands with all the various folks that were here washing mud out of their clothing in the water that was still running through. They came into my home, and their eyes were moist. I think the

10 SONDEREGGER -7- tears were not over the material things that had been lost, but rather from a bond of closeness of brother and sisterhood that was shared at a difficult time. We embraced each other. Those were the things that meant a lot to me. C: M: Now What stake is it that your husband is president of? He is president of the Rexburg-Idaho North Stake. It includes two wards in Rexburg--the First and the Eighth--and the Hibbard Ward which is west of Rexburg, the Plano and the Salem wards, the two Sugar City wards, and Newdale and Teton. Our stake was hit worse than any of the other areas. C: I imagine over those first few weeks that he must have been tremendously busy. Probably a lot of what you had to do here rested on your shoulders. How did you cope with that? M: I.guess not very well. I just pulled everything I could out of the house and rinsed them out. Our two youngest children were helping me. Our eldest son also helped us. His wife's uncles and some of her cousins came, and together they took everything out of the house. I became very ill during the middle of the night. I had started to get sick after I got home. At first the doctor through that I had some type of dysentary. He put me in isolation at the hospital, but nothing was ever found in the testing. We now think that I was probably in shock. I thought I was being extremely brave, but I started with severe vomiting and diarrhea and we couldn't get it stopped. My husband called the doctor in the middle of the night and he said, "You had better bring her to the hospital," They put fluid into my veins and I spent four days there. My husband and his counselors, along with others, were working to get people organized and to organize the church help that was coming in as well as governmental, Red Cross and others. His broad shoulders came in handy, for there was much resting on them. He would be done about midnight or one o'clock in the morning and that is when he would come to see me at the hospi- tal, and allay any fears that I had, He'd tell me how things were

11 SONDEREGGER -8- going with the children and what was occurring in the valley and express his love for me telling me that everything would be all right. I really thought I was being brave because I didn't feel any shock. I may have just got a bug or some- thing that caused it, for I never did fell shock or anything! I was awfully sick for those four days, but he was able to spend about an hour with me in those early hours each morning. Then he'd leave and get several hours of rest and be up at 4:00 in the morning because they started meetings at 6:00. They had to use every bit of time. For the first month he got about two hours of sleep each night. He is an extremely good-hearted man and is good in the face of difficulty. He can act and not go to pieces. I knew that he knew everything would be all right. I knew if we had to start all over completely again we would do it, even without help, for at first we didn't know the government was going to help. He had built our other home for us and I knew he'd build us another one. I didn't have any fears over the material things--it was I guess concern for each other that was the big thing. C: Did you ever feel at any point over the next few weeks or month, that you ever approached anything with despair or hopelessness? M: No, we never did and I don't think anyone else did. I shouldn't say that no one did, because there was some despair. People in this area are an extremely devout people and rely on their Heavenly Father a lot. The support that we had from outside contributed greatly to our mental welfare. My most extreme worries were about the children, because the children, I think, were probably hurt more than the adults. That would be the children between the ages of 8 and 16--in that precarious age when they are in those developing stages. There were a lot of tears shed by our children because they weren't sure of what was happening. Their devoutness is not yet fully developed at that age, although they said their prayers and things like that. They shed a lot of

12 SONDEREGGER _g- tears and would get extremely tired when they were trying to help with the mud. They knew that they ought to be helping me wash things, and they did. They'd get tired and start to cry and I knew they were homesick. They were just so over- tired, but it was so fortunate that there was food and that they had the college pool where they could go swim with their friends. It was relaxing to them. I'm sure that was a great contributiing factor in helping the children. I don't believe I ever felt despair. I thought this way, "We lose loved ones and we get over their deaths. Surely, we could get over the death of a home and insignificant material things which can always be replaced." I did become extremely tired and exhausted at times, however. I am going to have to take back what I said--i did have despair! One afternoon, I had been washing all the muddy things before lunch and I came across the baby books. All the baby pictures and the children's pictures were completely ruined. There was a feeling that began to well up with me and I thought I couldn't stand it, because I had worked hard on those baby books. It wasn't the work that bothered me, but those pictures were extremely precious to me. Our children had been hard to get and I thought I couldn't stand it. I had to get to my husband. I told the children, "We've got to go over and see daddy." We went over to the Command Post of our stake which was at the Rexburg North Stake Center, and we went into his office, There were some of the other brethern that were with him and I said, "Don't be nice to me or I might start to cry." He asked, "What is the matter?" I replied, "All the baby's pictures are ruined." I started to cry and couldn't turn it off for two hours. I feel sure there was more than the baby pictures mixed up with those tears. I found out that I was human after all. We did have feelings about it, but not what you might expect, not that depth of despair or any- thing that would be a lasting thing,

13 SONDEREGGER -10- C: Out of all the things that you did lose in your home that might be considered irreplaceable, were those baby books the things you felt the worst about? S: Yes, but I also had some lovely antiques which were tied in with memories of special people that meant a lot to me. I had a beautiful oil painting which my husband's father had got in Silesia just before World War I and he had sent it to his young bride (my husband's mother). Before she passed away she gave it to us, saying, "I know that you would treasure this and take care of it." It was on a wall and the whole wall went. I felt bad about losing that. We have memories of their love for each other and for us, and I am sure that your memories are your most valuable treasures because we can take none of the material things with us. I hope there is a guardian angel though, that has all the negatives of my baby pictures! I hope there is a film somewhere of the babies so that some day I can see them again! Childhood is a special time, but our memories and our feelings for each other are our real treasures. To know that we didn't lose anyone meant everything to us. That was a big blessing! If the dam had broken in the night, we'd have had it thing. It would have been a terrible C: Over the next few weeks as you dealt with the various organizations--such as the Red Cross, L.D.S. church, and the government, what did you think of the kinds of services they provided? Were you satisfied with how they dealt with you? M: I've never been treated better. I felt that the government agencies, the Red Cross and the church bent over backwards to help everybody. I have a firsthand knowledge of this because my husband met (as I mentioned before) every morning at 6:00 with the heads of government agencies, various religious representatives, Red CroSs heads, National Guard leaders and others, in an effort to correlate programs so that things would be done right. He was

14 SONDEREGGER -11- impressed with the way they all worked together in our behalf. There was a time in our nation's history when the government was petitioned for help because the people of our church were being run out of their lands and their homes by a prejudiced people. The government told them their cause was just, but nothing could be done to help them. This time it was an extremely different story. It was a beautiful thing to see the government and the church working together for the people. We know that the government and the church can work together and when I say the "church" that wasn't only the L.D.S. church, but several other church heads of the area were at those meetings. We had thousands and thousands of people come in from various areas. Mainly the L.D.S. church, but there were other church groups--the Mennonites and Jewish groups. To see so many different government agencies, races and nationalities all working together for a common cause and seeing hearts beat together was a sight to behold. C: In filing your claim, were you and your husband satisfied with the settlement the government made with you? M: Yes, they were very fair and just. In filing our claim, my husband had cautioned me and the rest of the people in the stake that he would rather see them sub- mit a claim 20% less than one 20% too much. He knew that after the claims were settled we would have our consciences to face. He didn't want anyone to feel bad afterward. I washed everything that we salvaged, which was quite a bit. I washed everything and then I had to access the damage and value left on that. Some things I may have accessed too high, some things I may have accessed too low. There were numerous things that I forgot about. On the large items I was able to go to the furniture stores where we had purchased those items and get photostatic copies of my bills of sale. I really felt good

15 SONDEREGGER -12- about the large items. Also, I recovered many of the bills of sale although muddy and wet. On my antiques that I found pieces of I took to an antique dealer and had him appraise them for me. Then on the everyday run of the mill things I had to do the accessing and evaluation on those. If I found an item such as a sheet that had a big rust spot in it, I knew that I could still use that sheet. I knew that big rust spot would make a hole in it before long, but I salvaged what I figured I could use out of it. Many times I got on my knees and prayed that I would make the right decision because in no way did I want to cheat the government out of any money. I love our government and I didn't want to make claim for more than what we had. I felt that we even had to submit a claim because I am like the rest of the people in the area here, extremely independent of the government. We have been taught by our church and our parents to help ourselves rather than take any help that we don't have to have. This situation was, we felt, like insur- ance. If you_had insurance on your home and it burned down, your insurance company would take care of it. We felt that in a situation where the oovern- ment has a law that we all have to carry liability insurance in the event we might damage someone else's property and be liable for that damage, then it should be no different for the government if the should damage ours, The reimbursement from the government for what we lost was all right to take. They didn't cut us anything on our claim, and we are thankful because our consciences are clear now that it is all over. I didn't claim a lump sum for clothes, jewelry, or for furniture. I looked up every single item that I could remember. My vacuum which I had for quite awhile, I didn't feel I should replace it with a brand new one. I put in for a used vacuum; things like that. Clothing that I felt had been worn a lot I didn't ask for replacement. I think because our claim was

16 SONDEREGGER -13- detailed and descriptive they knew we weren't estimating, but were putting down exactly what we had lost. C: There has been talk about people filling fraudulent claims. Without mention- ing any names, are you aware of any people that did do this? M: I don't know of any. I'm sure that on the surface as other people see us in our new homes and in many cases the new home is better than what folks had before it looks like we have "taken" the government. There is no way you can build an old home.' It has to be a new one. The government told them that they would give us so much per square foot for their homes. Some got more per square foot than others did because of the type of home they had. A brick home, rock front, and tile roof, like we had, would receive more per square foot than a frame home with a shingled roof, etc. Each family received so much per square foot for their lost homes. We have added more money with it to make it a better home than what we had. We have to spend our own finances on that, and I think that everyone has done the same. I know that some have done it this way. They have taken the money they received for their personal items (the government said that we didn't have to put that money in the exact items like we had) and have put it into their homes. They feel that they can gradually build up the items they had like they did when they first got married. When you start adding things up you find you had more than what you thought you had. Say you received $15,000 or $20,000 for personal items and $30,000 for your home, If you put that money together, you can have a better home than you had. We felt that it was extremely wise to rebuild good homes, because at first we were afraid there might be a lot of cheaply constructed homes built. If you put up a lot of poorly built homes, pretty soon you've got a slum area. We were encouraged to build a little bigger and a little better by our prophet. People have done that; they have been very wise with the use of their money.

17 SONDEREGGER -14- C: As you have watched the communities, both Sugar City and Rexburg and the surrounding areas rebuilding and recovering over the last year, what sort of positive things do you feel have come out of this for the community as a whole? What negative things do you think have come up? M: I think the positive things are that the people have been willing to go ahead and take on the tremendous job of rebuilding a community. It has been no little thing. We've awaken and gone to sleep to the sound of hammers and earthmovers. Right here in Sugar City we have already passed a bond to improve our water system and that expense will be footed by the people. The government will pay for the damage to our old water system. We will take that money and with the new bond that was passed we will add more money to it and have a better water system. People have been, I think, quite aware of other's needs. I know for a fact that there have been big donations to the Red Cross and large donations to the L.D.S. church to the fast offering. That money is used for the welfare. I know it has risen sharply, because my husband has the records of that and has told me that people have wanted to give back a lot of money to the church because they received a lot of help. They would like to help replace that which was used on us, so that it can be used in other disaster areas and for other unfortunate people. I think people have learned to not get so excited over little things anymore. They know there is much worse that can happen. I feel a lot of calmness and I see many becoming more spiritual because of their gratitude to their Heavenly Father for the blessings which we have received. We all think now that if we were to go through another flood that we could do a lot better--not that we want to--but there is more empathy and more tenderness. More are willing to listen to one another. I suppose the most negative thing that hurts us and has hurt us very deeply, is that many people have said to our faces and behind our backs that

18 SONDEREGGER -15- they wished they could go through a flood so that they could get a new home. There is not one of us that wouldn't go right back to where we were on June 4. Not one. We were happy and we had a happy community. We found out that new homes aren't that important. A lot of people have said, "My that is going to cost us a lot of money in our taxes." Some actually seem to be jealous of our new homes. As I mentioned before, there is no way you can build an old home. While people are rebuilding, if they have the financial ability to make their homes better, that is the time to do it. We felt that this was a very wise thing to do. We have heard that people have larger mortgages than they had before, but wanted to improve a little. You will find that the large majority of people have been extremely careful in what they asked the government for. We, ourselves, found that we could have asked more for our home because we knew what the current market price was for a home like the one we had. We don't feel like we have "taken" the government for anything. I don't think others did. I know no one has asked the government to pay for emotional stress which we understand has been a heavy item that the government has paid for in other areas! We were told that the government had $20,000,000 which they figured the people would ask for emotional stress. My husband and our church leaders asked us not to do things like that. They said, "You can go to the Lord and get that taken care of." That is what people have done. I think people know the important things are not the material things. They have handled it well and there hasn't been half the emotional stress that there might have been. Although material things are not the most important, we must have them to survive. We have to have homes. We have to have clothing and food. The thing that probably bothers us more than anything is the idea that others feel we ought not to have new homes. We feel bad too, but how else could it be?

19 SONDEREGGER -16- C: Did you or your husband or any member of your family have any spiritual exper- iences during the whole last year that you'd care to tell about? M: I suppose there were quite a number of things that could be considered miracles. I could relate two that were special to us. We noticed that as we went to church at Teton each Sunday, for about a month, there were a lot of ponds with running water that was still overflowing from the Teton River. It couldn't hold the water it was so full of mud. There were a lot of little ponds and lakes to which thousands of seagulls came, literally thousands. Before they came I had mentioned to my husband. "This is going to be a summer of mosquito bites. With all these stagnant ponds everywhere we are going to be eaten alive trying to clean up. It is going to be miserable." Then came the seagulls! It looked as if they were policing the ponds and lakes and eating something. During this time a jar of the stagnant water was brought into the National Guard Headquarters and it was full of mosquito larvae. They checked to see if the ponds could be sprayed, but they figured it would cost around $43,000 and felt that the money was needed more elsewhere. As I stated, the seagulls came. From where and how they came we don't know, but they were surely a Godsend. Very few of us got any mosquito bites last summer, yet we know that the ponds were full of the larvae and the seagulls must have eaten them. We tie this to the time when the seagulls came to protect early Mormon settlers. The crickets in the Salt Lake Valley came and were eating the crops, but the seagulls came and ate all the crickets. They'd leave and then come and eat again. That's what these did. It really brought tears to our eyes because we'd never seen that many seagulls around this area. Those ponds and lakes would be white with seagulls all over scooping up that larvae. That is what they must have been eating because we didn't get bitten. We commented, "What has happened to the mosquitoes?" There weren't any. Others said the same thing.

20 SONDEREGGER -17- Another interesting highling, at least to us, began a number of years ago while my husband was bishop of the Sugar City Ward. He had some church business in Salt Lake with President Spencer W. Kimball, who was then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve. After their business was done President Kimball put his arm around him and said, "I'd sure like to come to Sugar City sometime." My husband said, "There is nothing that we'd like better." He replied, I'll come if I can." It was left like that, but then on the Sunday of June 13, 1976, President Kimball and Elder Boyd K. Packard came., My husband flew in a helicopter with them and Brother Haycock, President Kimball's secretary. They toured the ravished area. My husband didn't know of their plans, where they were going to visit, but as they came over Sugar City, the prophet wanted to land. They did and they landed in the city park. My husband, in telling me about it, said, "I don't know where it came from, but here came a little red car with a driver." They all got into the little car and toured the area. As we were coming into Sugar City, those words, "I'll come if I can," began ringing in my ears. He said, "I could hardly hold the tears back because the prophet had come to Sugar City." When they got out of the car, he said, "President Kimball, you probably won't remember this, but one time you told me that you'd like to come to Sugar City and you said you'd come if you could. You had your arm around me then, now my arm is around you in Sugar City and you are here." To him it was a prophesy fulfilled to have the prophet here. We were all extremely spiritually touched at that time and to have him here was really something. The prophet was so concerned. He said, "I would weep for you if it would do any good." My husband looked at him and said, "I know you would, but we'll be all right." As they toured all but the prophet were concerned about him picking up some germ or something because they were concerned with disease and contamination in the area. He saw people working

21 SONDEREGGER -18- by their houses and he'd say, "Back up, I want to shake their hands." He shook their hands and afterwards they wiped his hands with disinfectant because he is in his 80's and they didn't want him to get anything/ He wasn't concerned about that; he was concerned with the people. When he and Elder Packer spoke at our conference (they held two so that everybody could come), they were extremely careful not to dwell on the sad part of our predicament. Instead, they used an uplifting approach in which they encouraged us and told us not to get over tired but to take a rest, to dance, and play. Their counsel was very wise. Those were especially lovely and wonderful things that meant a lot to us. It prompted me to write a poem about the seagulls which is in the book That Day in June that was published. It was an extremely choice time because we learned a lot of things about ourselves. We found our strengths and our weaknesses and we found areas where we could be better. We were quite surprised to see that we had as much strength as we did. We found things that made us feel good, and things that made us think. "Well, I had better be better in that area." C: A lot of people have talked about the cause of the dam breaking and many people have accepted the idea that it was a man-made disaster due to various construction problems, but there have been a few people who have expressed the idea that perhaps it was some kind of punishment for some of the people. How would you feel about that idea? M: I'd have to say just the opposite. Most of the folks here say, "I wonder why the Lord loved us so much that he would let us go through an experience like this to give us growth?" We believe that man's extremeties are God's opportunities for when everything is going easy you are not searching for answers; there is no growth. Growth comes in difficult times because you are searching for answers. When you experience trials, that is-your real opportunity. I've

22 SONDEREGGER -19- turned to Hebrews in Chapter 12 quite a bit. There is a verse that says (I'm not quoting exactly), "People think they don't want chastening, that it wouldn't be good, but it is grievous if there is no chastening, because after chastening comes growth." We found this to be true. In circles when I am around people who know a little bit about geology they seem to feel that the dam was leaking on the upstream side, where all the water was. The soil had been taken there to build the dam, but it should have been taken below the dam. I don't want to say anything against the environment- alists because they do a great job, but in this case the environmentalists insisted that the soil not be taken from below the dam, but taken from above where the water would be. They said, "That way it wouldn't erase the beauty." Most of the people I know of think that the dam bed was weakened by taking all of that soil out and making the bed of the dam closer to the open cracks of the area. The breakage started at the bottom; it didn't start at the side. There was alsb a whirlpool at the bottom. To believe that God broke the dam is ridiculous: If anything, he stopped it from breaking in the night. C: There is talk that the dam will be rebuilt. Are you in favor of that or opposed to it, and if it were would you mind if it were in the same location? M: From what I know about the location I know that there would have to be a higher caliber of engineering to put it there. We didn't realize there were open cracks where seepage could occur, nor that it was in an area subject to earthquakes. I feel that if the dam is rebuilt and we do have a high need for it, it would be the best dam ever built because I know they wouldn't dare be careless. If they do put it there, I feel like there would be every hope for a high quality dam. It couldn't by anything but that. C: As you've looked over this last year and all that you have personally experienced with your family, what changes, if any, have you found in your own personal

23 SONDEREGGER -20- attitudes or values or perhaps even your personality? Any change of this nature that you would attributed directly to the flood experience? M: Yes, several. I found that we have to rely on spiritual more in times like this. I have found out that when people say material things aren't important that isn't right. Material things, as I mentioned before, are important. Man has to have material things in order to survive. He doesn't have to have frills, but we've found out he does have to have material things, he has to have shelter and food. I feel that I will b wiser in my food storage. We did have a good food storage plan and we lost it. Some of the things that seemed quite important to me now will change in a few years. I have sensed a need in me to get back as nearly to what I was in a hurry. I sense also a security in getting my home back again and the food and things like that. I used to not have fears about that, but now I sense within myself, a concern to have things on hand for sustaining life that may soften as the years go by. I think the thing I have really learned from this is what I call our "on-the-job training" for things to come or a pilot study for latter days. I know that we didn't see the needs of the children as much as we ought to have done. I can sense now in my own children that there was a great deal of turmoil going on in them. I mentioned this a little before, but I think if we were in another disaster I would be able to sense their needs more. Although we tried to go through as much "normal" activity as we could, we did not realize that the things that were happening in the children were a result of their being out of their own everyday situations. The children agrgued and fought more and cried more. They were less obedient. This was in all the children. Some of the children developed some insecurities and when someone showed them a little affection, they latched on to people they ought not to. They found

24 SONDEREGGER -21- security in the attention of others. There were a few sad experiences that happened to some of the children. Some of them took up with friends that were not the type they ought to have taken up with. They found security in the attention they got. Another time, I think we would realize that these children have been through quite a traumatic experience which they were not prepared for. I hope that I will see the needs of my children stronger than I saw before. We thought having the trailers to live in, having food, getting things ready to go back into a new home, buying the same games we had before and playing the games would do the trick, but it didn't. We did not sense their needs. I think when we say, "Home is when we are together" it is true on an adult view, but home to children is that spot where they have been raised and have lived. They have much of their security tied in with that. I'm sure we did the best we could, but we have learned much more. When they got naughty and cried, we sometimes thought, "Here we are struggling so hard to get back. We are working like crazy and we are over-tired and they're doing this." We'd think, "How can they be so naughty?" We didn't see, but after awhile we began to see. Now that we are back home, I can see what has happened to my children. The first two weeks they would run through the house and turn cart wheels. They couldn't hardly contain themselves. I commented, "Now this isn't the way you treat a home. You've forgotten how to live in a home." They would say, "But it feels so good!" And it did--it felt good to them--they felt like they had come back. They have settled down so much from what they were in the trailer. This is something that I could see in myself--i could have done a better job with my children, although I thought I was doing a good job. This is something that is growth; we've learned from this experience. When other things come, and they will come, because things don't go on with peace and calm forever,

25 SONDEREGGER -22- I hope we'll be smarter and wiser. Maybe this is a special blessing from the Lord to help. us so that when something else does come we'll be able to handle it better than those who haven't experienced hardships. People here have things really nice, things run smoothly, its a smooth community, with very few trials. The youth are of a high caliber type. We don't experience a lot of the things they experience in other places. This is something, but I'm sure we can be a better people--we ought to be, because if we aren't then our experience would have been of no value to us at all. Since it was so hard to go through, we had better use it to our advantage and not let it waste. Being a stake president's wife, after you got out of the hospital and were feeling better I am sure it was several months that your husband was away at his meetings and caring for the people in the stake. Was there ever anytime that you, as a wife, was left with a lot of decisions and responsibilities at home? Was there anytime you ever felt resentment towards the fact that he was being taken away from you? There were times when I thought, "I wish you were here to help me," because there were three months I spent washing off mud. The mud that was on all my things was right from the sewer ponds--the stench was terrible. I could work with it only so long until I would get extremely tired. Again, I would think, "I wish you were here." He's a fast worker and one of those men that is strong and extremely healthy. I wished he was here. He would give me as much time as he could, but his heavy assignment was with the people. I didn't feel any resentment at all, I felt proud of him. My husband had helped the community out when we had a small flood before. He spent three days and two nights without any rest dynamiting the Ice when it was clogging the stream sending the flood onto our community.

26 SONDEREGGER -23- The water was three feet high in some places. I was extremely proud of him and this might sound kind of conceited, but I thought the Lord must have known there was going to be trials and he needed a good man with good health. A man who could handle it all with little sleep. I was extremely proud of him and yet I longed for him. I can't deny that. When thousands of people began coming in to lend a helping hand I didn't want to be the first one in to ask for help. I thought, "I'm not going to think I'm the stake president's wife so I am going to go get what I can." I thought I should let the other people have the help and him first. I had very little help. My family lives a long distance away and my husband's too, but the little help we got I was extremely thankful for. I did most of the washing of the mud and the children helped. My sister and her husband, Byrnece and Ralph Maughan of Logan, Utah, came twice to help. There were several days that some folks came up from Logan and didn't have a place to help. They asked me if I'd like them and I said, "Yes!" They helped me wash off mud. That was a big job because we had to write down everything that we saved or lost. It was such a sickening job going over and over and over it everyday. It would bring everything back to my mind and I'd think, "Will I ever get through?" We wanted to start building our new home immediately. Many would ask, "Are you going to rebuild?" We'd say, "Yes." They'd say, "I guess if you are going to we will." This really could have become a dead community. Our current governor made the comment, "Sugar City is a dead community. There will never be a Sugar City again." I guess he didn't know the strength of the people here. We are very proud of them. Those may not have been the governor's exact words, but he did make a comment to that effect. I did wish for my husband and I did get awfully lonesome for him, because he was gone. He'd leave about 5:30 a.m. and not get home until midnight. I was tired.

27 SONDEREGGER -24- C: I don't have any more specific questions, but is there anything else you'd like to say at this time? Any last thoughts or feelings that you'd like to express? M: I guess I'd just have to say in closing that we have been extremely blessed by our Heavenly Father. The blessing of over 40,000 people coming in to help us clean up our mess was tremendous. They came from far and near and would bring their own meals, their own equipment, anything they could. It showed a great brotherhood to me. I was proud to know that love and service still exists in my country, particularly here in the West. I think that these are things that we've got to retain in our country. We can survive if that kind of brother- hood still exists and it does as we found out. I would like to say again that I am very pleased with my husband that he can handle things like this so well. I can't keep him all to myself. I am extremely pleased with my children, they came through a difficult time. They have done quite well although its been hard on them as it has been on other children. My two youngest children were by my side everyday. Our oldest boy had to work for a living because he has a wife and little baby, but he helped us for two weeks and then he had to go to work so that he could keep things going for his little family. My children were very helpful to me. I would like to relate what sister Irma Gee said. A reporter came from St. Paul while she was cleaning things out of her broken home which was extremely borken and damaged. Her sons were there helping and the reporter said to her, "Mrs. Gee, we want to know how you really feel about all this. Do you have any bitterness towards the government in your heart with that dam breaking, destroy- ing everything you had?" She said, "I'd like to tell you how I feel. I feel nothing but graditude." He said, "Graditude?" She replied, "Yes, look at my fine sons in here. They've come and they're helping us and I couldn't feel more happy to know that I've got a family that feels this way when we are in trouble." Then she said, "We'll make it back. This is a hardship of course,

28 SONDEREGGER -25- but I feel so grateful for all the help that my family has given to me and that I've got such a good family. We all love each other here. We're not down, we'll make it." That is the way I'd like to say it. I feel nothing but graditude for the past two years, although it has been hard. Anything worthwhile doesn't come easy. I feel graditude and thanks to my Heavenly Father for the blessings throughout the year and to everyone who was so good to help. C: Thank you very much, Mrs. Sonderegger.