TETON ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM. Ricks College Idaho State Historical Society History Department, Utah State University TETON DAM DISASTER.

Transcription

1 TETON ORAL HISTORY PROGRAM Ricks College Idaho State Historical Society History Department, Utah State University TETON DAM DISASTER Carol Ann Price Interviewed by Doris Shirley June 1, 1977 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 C P E!), I, Doris Shir l ey (name, please print) (interviewer, print) knowingly and voluntarily permit the Milton R. Merrill Library at Utah State University, the David 0. McKay Library at Ricks College, and the Idaho State Historical Society at Boise, Idaho, the full rights and use of this information. AM4_%2 Interviewer s Signature / Date 7 '7 7

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. * * * * C In view of the historical and scholarly value of this infor- Elation, 1,C,0 red Alan Fr, do hereby assign full (please print full name) 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. GC)/) Interviewee s Signature Date

4 ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWEE: Carol Ann Price INTERVIEWER: Doris Shirley DATE: June 1, 1977 TETON DAM DISASTER S: Carol, Ann, would you spell your name for me. P: Carol Ann Price. S: Where were you born? P: San Diego, California, Grosmont Hospital. S: How lona have you lived in Rexburg? P: For about three years. S: How old are you? P: Seven and a half. S: What is your dad's name? P: Jerry Price. S: And what does he do? P: He works at the college. S: Can you tell me what he does? P: I don't know. He advises student government and activities. S: Do you remember what you were doing Saturday morning, June the 5th, just before the flood? P: Yes. We were out working with my dad, he was digging holes for our swing set that he built. S: Go on. P: My mom, she was in the kitchen listening to the radio and she heard this man and he said, "The Teton Dam has broken. Just evacuate and take your family and run!" She went out and told my dad; they both

5 PRICE -2- thought it was just a joke. Then we all thought it was just a joke and our neighbor yelled over and he was watching another station on the TV and he said, he called over to my dad and he said, "Jerry, just take your family and run. The Teton Dam has broken and it is a big wall of water." So that is what we did. We left and went up on high ground to our friend's. S: When you left yourilome what did you take with you? P: We just took some bottles for the baby and some blankets for the baby. S_ Did your dad try to but anything up so that it would be safe or anything like that? P: No. S: Now, tell about having to leave your dog. P: A few minutes later we heard that the Teton Dam was coming by our place and we thought about our dog and our cow. Our dog was just a little baby and he was just sitting in the dog house and the cow was just over by the meadows. We felt sorry for them because the Teton Dam was going to kill 'em. We was talking about our cow and we thought he was going to swim but he didn't, and we couldn't find him anywhere. S: So what happened to your house? P: We couldn't find it but then our friends thought they had saw our house. Our garage was off it and so two days later we went out there and we got to see it. The garage was off and there was a wall that just went out of its place. We had to get a new house like it. Sort of like it. S: After you left the flood area where did you go? P: We went to Morford's for a job, our friends, we stayed at their house and we went out on the deck and looked with binoculars and we saw the water hitting our house.

6 PRICE -3- S: Did you stay with the Morford's over night? P: Yes, we slept in their room. S: Did they have pajamas for you? P: No, we had to sleep in our clothes. S: You slept in your clothes? What was the first thing you ate after the flood? P: Peanut butter and honey sandwiches. S: Were they pretty good? P: Yep. S: What did you do on Sunday morning? P: We went to the Hart Building over at the college and we talked about it. S: What happened to your own room? P: We saw the beds and they were all smashed. There was mud on the floor. We looked into the closet; there was a few hangers there and a couple of things on the floor. There was mud all over. S: What about your clothes? P: We found some in the hall and some of the floor. S: Was there anything you could use? P: Uh huh. We used a lot of it. S: What about your beds, your mattresses, your sheets and quilts, what happened to them? P: We had to throw them away because they had mud stains on them, but we got our afghans out. S: What toys did you lose that you especially liked? P: Well, our jewelry boxes and some of those things that you push, they go down and then they come up again.

7 PRICE -4- S: Jack-in-the boxes? P: Yeah, jack-in-the-box. S: What did you have that was special in your jewelry boxes? P: I had this thing that my grandma had given me a long time ago in Jackson Hole and a bracelet that my Aunt Pat gave me. S: And you never did find those things? P: No. S: Any special books that you lost? P: Yeah, I lost my Goodnight Sleep book. There were lots of stories in to read at night or in the day. S: How long did you stay at Morford's? P: For about one week. S: You slept up there every night for one week? Where did you eat? P: At the college. S: Then where did you stay? P: We went to California for two months at our Grandma's. Then we got a HUD trailer and we slept in that. It was just little but we had a great big parking lot and no one parked cars in it so we got to ride our bikes there. We had a little friend; he is about three years old and his name is Jeff. S: How long did you live in the HUD trailer? P: For about four months. S: Is that all? Then where did you live? P: Then we got this new house and we are living in it now. We lived in some dorms up by the college before that. S: And then you moved into your new house? P: Umhmm.

8 NIMMENUMMINNIMMENUMMINNIMMENUMMINNIMMENUMMINNIMMENUMMINNIMMENUMMINNIMMENUMMINNIMMENUMMINE PRICE -5- S: Did you help with any clean up? P: Umhmin. We cleaned up all the things that we got out, and lots of toys and things like that. S: Now your home was totally destroyed, you didn't do anything up there P: No. did you? S: That was so bad that they didn't do anything at all with it. P: No, they just burned it down. S: Is that what they did, just burn what was left? P: First we aot all the things out, and then they burned what was left. S: Where did you spend Christmas? P: We spent it in our new home. S: Where did you get your tree and decorations? P: We cut a tree down in the mountains and made some decorations. S: Now would you like to read your poem? Tell us what it is. P: This is a poem that my dad made up after the flood. It is called "High Ground." 'Twas a bright sunny day of the fifth of June. Our family was working each singing a tune. Yes, everything was going just right 'Til the neighbor's voice was filled with fright. Yelled, "Take only your family and run to high around. The dam has broken; the water is coming down." With our family, we hurried away Leaving earthly possessions right there to stay. We thought we left it there to stay, But in just a few moments it all washed away. The water came in and our house went down. Everything gone, just level around. A silent prayer and a tear in the eye. We asked the Lord, "How and why?" Thanks we gave for all we have, Sons and daughters, Mom and Dad,