THE TETON DAM DISASTER GEORGE STONE IDAHO HISTORY BROTHER ATKINSON STEVE STODDARD

NIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMIN THE TETON DAM DISASTER GEORGE STONE IDAHO HISTORY BROTHER ATKINSON STEVE STODDARD

INIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMIN On that Saturday morning, June 5, a number of marvelous events occured in our ward that prevented the loss of a number of lives. Everyone that I talked to in regard to that day seemed to have someone looking over them. We could start with the family that was closest to the dam, the Ross Reynolds family. They lived right near the mouth of the canyon on their farm. That particular day, Mrs. Reynolds and one of her sons and her sons wife and one other person had decided to float the river. They went up and put their boat right below the dam. They started to float down and they were fishing. Mrs. Reynnlds noticed after a while that the water started to become quite muddy and seemed to be rising a little bit. They were concerned, for they knew the water was high on the dam. They thought that perhaps they were letting some water through the dam and this was causing the problem. As they floated dawn, they came around the bend and at the top of the ravine there was a figure. Mrs. Reynolds said that is your father up there, and her son Brad said no it could not be. He would not be up there. They heard a gun shot, she said I am sure it is your father something must be wrong. We should get out of the water and they began to row to the side of the river. As they were rowing, the river was rising considerably. The river was rising continually as they were rowing. They realized at that point that something was wrong. They reached the shore and started to climb up the top of the gully and the water kept rising. In fact, they got their feet wet several times as they were climbing. They finally were able to get up quite high, and they looked down behind them. They saw a wall of water ten to fifteen feet high and they realized at that time that the dam must have broken. They climbed as quickly as they could and then they looked back a second time, and they saw a wall of water thirty to forty feet. On top of the water floating was a huge cement wall that was part of the structure on the dam. They were seperated when they were climbing and were concerned about each other as they were going up to the edge. It turned out to be Mr. Reynolds and had known that they were planning on floating the river. He only knew of one place where he could possibly see them. He drove to that spot in his truck. When he got there, he saw them just floating around the corner.

If they would hr-ve gone farther, there would have been no possible way that they could have seen or heard him. There would have been no way to have notified them. He shot and it called their attention, and fortunately it called their attention and they were able to get out in time. There older son, a returned missionary, also knew about their situation of floating the river and he came back quickly from Ashton. He tried to reach the same spot. He was driving very fast over the hill and the water had just crossed the road. He was going over 90 miles an hour in the truck, and he put on the brakes and skidded to a halt just befire he hit the water. He said that he feels the truck would have never stopped under normal circumstances, but he felt that someone had helped him at that point. There was no people hurt from that family although it could have been very tragic. On down a ways further into the ward, there were a number of families on the East side of Wilford that could have been lost. The Dow family which consists of two sons/ and Grandparents, and the main family which would be actually four families. There were four families which lived right in the path there. One of the sons was plannning on going down to a lower part of their farm. Something made him decide not to go that day and stay around the house. The Grandparents refused to leave their home when they had heard of the flood and apparently had gotten in their pickup just as the water got to them. They were the only two members of the ward who were killed in the flocd. The other members of the Dow family did not leave quickly enough and the water was coming. They drove quickly-to high ground in the middle of the ward boundary. The Williard and Ashcraft family had done the same. My First Counseler's wife that day was with a group of Cub Scouts. She and some of the other Cub Scout leaders had all gone to Porter Park in Rexburg. They heard that the dam had broken and had started home. When they started to leave, they were told that they could not go into St. Anthony. She t7lked to the police, and told him that she felt that her family was

1 - UIUIU r UIUIU 'III U UIUIU 'III U UIUIU `III UIUIU 1 UIUIU 1 UIUIU 1 - UIUIU needed her. She was able to travel the road and make it to the Wilford area before the flood had blocked the roads. However, she was able to see the water and her home was on the far Northwestern part of the community. The White family never left there home, for they felt that the water would never hit it. It not hit there home. The Bodily family had left there home, and when they returned it had not been hit. The water had traveled through their back yard. A former Bishop Birch, a High Councilman, found his home not to have been touched. They went to the High Council to do all that they could do. They notified the people in the Ashton area that they would need food and clothing. Many people took their storage food to the Stake Center in St. Anthony. It became an area for supplying food and clothing in the area. The Wilford Ward was the only ward that had serious damage done to families in the stake. The exception was maybe three homes in the Twin Groves ward. They broke up the membership of our ward into groups. Each of these families were assigned to another Bishop and ward in the stake. They contacted the families as well as they could and made the preperation for those families to stay with other families in the stake. By that Sunday evening, they made living accomodations for everyone. There were over one hundred and twentyfive families in the ward, and most of the homes had been destroyed by the flood. There were only a few homes which were left standing at the end. The Stake Presidency put in radio's at the stake center, and they tried to account for everyone in the flood area. It took several days, but they were able to determine where everyone was in the stake. Bishop George Stone had been trapped in Rexburg, and he was not able to leave. He was on the missing list until he was able to report in the next morning. The Bishop's home had been hit, but it was not destroyed. The Stake Presidency attempted to relieve him of as many possible duties as they could, so that I could take care of my own home and responsibilities. They assigned other Brethren on the high council to work with the people in our ward. We were able to check on each one of them, and it was possible to check on each one of their own welfare. They wished to find housing for

INIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMIN all of them at that time. These people lived with other families for several months. Some of the families were quite large with five, six, and seven children. They at times would move in with other families. At times it was quite a burden, but the attitude of the people was tremendous. There were made some very close friendships came from this situation. Most people did not want to split up she families, so it was usually possible for them to stay all together. The personal family which we stayed with was the Birch family. They were one of the families in our ward which did not recieve any damage. We were able to move back into our home after about two weeks, but it was not completely fixed. We had to pull out the carpet. The top floor of the bedrooms were intact and we were able to live there and work in the house to try to get it ready. The remaining people in our area along the street where we lived, the variety of situations were quite similiar to ours. The houses were damaged but were able to be fixed back up. We had the people nn our street living there before many of the other areas. There was no power to the homes when we first went back. The power poles across the street had been snapped into two pieces. They, the power company, moved right in to have the power return as quickly as possible. Large equipment came in and cleared the roads of mud and logs. Helicopters brought in and planted new telephone poles. They were able to establish power in my area very quickly which tied in the power between St. Anthony and Rexburg. The line was established first and we had the power back at our home in a short period of time. One of the next problems after power had been established was that of having clean water. All of the water in the wells had to be checked for contamination. If the wells had been contaminated, the person had to put chlorox down the well and purify it. Our well showed that it had been contaminated on the first test, but on the second test it showed that it was fine. We had electricity back and our water at this plaint. The next thing that happened was that our septic tank collapsed, and it had to be replaced. We were fortunate however that our well worked without any problems

NIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMIN our rump house was good. Our food storage was in very bad shape. The wheat and things which had been stored down low had all been destroyed and had to be put in the garbage. We pulled out our carpets in hopes that they were not destroyed, but they were completely destroyed also and had to be completely hauled away. The furniture on the lower level of our home had been destroyed. Our television set was gone. We had to tear off the paneling of our walls. The insulation had to be torn out. It took a good month of hard work by my family and myself to have the home around to where we could live in it comfortably again. The government was very considerate, and the Red Cross came in to give us a great deal of help. Along with the Church they worked together to restore people in their housing and restore it as best as they could. The government allowed the people to take advantage of trailors which they had. The people were able to place the Hud trailors on their own land as long as they had a well. They put in septic tanks. There was a lot of trouble with this. The people of the government had no idea how to find anybody and so many members of the ward would ride around with the government men and take them to the families. They would assist them on how to get their hud trailors. Many people came out from towns and helped. They came from Ashton and surro3nding areas. The state youth services center, a reform school, had some young men come out and move carpets. The rug in the basement and one in the living room were so heavy when it was wet that it took a dozen young men to move those carpets out. They also helped drain the water out of the basement. These individuals helped many other people. There were many from other towns who came out and helped. There were many from other religions who became involved. The Menenites brought help. There were groups from other Churchs who were there. The different Protestant groups sent people. There was some conflict, however, because there was only so much equipment and so much to be done. Many of the businessmen in the community and many of the farmers brought in their own equipment and helped. We had people come and load up tons and tons of items and haul them away. There were some trees, plants, and strawberry patch which were still left. They were buried down

NIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINE beneath the piles of rubble, but by the time the equipment had passed over them there was nothing left. Everything was pretty much gone. We tried to hum as much as we could. There was an old car that had floated some two miles down into our front yard, as well as farm equipment, a great deal of aluminum pipe was there from irrigation, parts fo buildings and barns, a great deal of manure, and I believe as I had mentioned before dead fish. There was a little of everything in our yard. Just everything was there. The yard will take this summer to replant grass and grow some new trees.

NIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMIN Oral History Project of Dr. Max Atkinson's Idaho Northwest History Class Ricks College Rexburg, Idaho 83440 Donated by Max Atkinson To the Ricks College. Archives October 1979

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UNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMIN THE TETON DAM DISASTER G''ORGE STONE IDAHO HISTORY BROTHER ATKINSON STEVE STODDARD

NIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMIN On that Saturday morning, June 5, a number of marvelous events occured in our ward that prevented the loss of a number of lives. Everyone that I talked to in regard to that day seemed to have someone looking over them. We could start with the family that was closest to the dam, the Ross Reynolds family. They lived right near the mouth of the canyon on their farm. That particular day, Mrs. Reynolds and one of her sons and her sons wife and one other person had decided to float the river. They went up and put their boat right below the dam, They started to float down and they were fishing. Mrs, Reynolds noticed after a while that the water started to become quite muddy and seemed to be rising a little bit, They were concerned, for they knew the water was high on the dam. They thought that perhaps they were letting some water through the dam and this was causing the problem. As they floated dawn, they came around the bend and at the top of the ravine there was a figure. Mrs. Reynolds said that is your father up there, and her son Brad said no it could not be. He would not be up there. They heard a gun shot, she said I am sure it is your father something must be wrong. We should get out of the water and they began to row to the side of the river. As they were rowing, the river was rising considerably. The river was rising continually as they were rowing. They realized at that point that something was wrong. They reached the shore and started to climb up the top of the gully and the water kept rising. In fact, they got their feet wet several times as they were climbing. They finally were able to get up quite high, and they looked down behind them. They saw a wall of water ten to fifteen feet high and they realized at that time that the dam must hpve broken. They climbed as quickly as they could and then they looked back a second time, and they saw a wall of water thirty to forty feet. On top of the water floating was a huge cement wall that was part of the structure on the dam. They were seperated when they were climbing and were concerned about each other as they were going up to the edge, It turned out to be Mr. Reynolds and had known that they were planning on floating the river. He only knew of one place where he could possibly see them. He drove to that spot in his truck. When he got there, he saw them just floating around the corner.

NIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMIN If they would hive gone farther, there would have been no possible way that they could have seen or heard him. There would have been no way to have notified them. He shot and it called their attention, and fortunately it call_ed their attention and they were able to get out in time. There older son, a returned missionary, also knew about their situation of floating the river and he came back quickly from Ashton. He tried to reach the same spot. He was driving very fast over the hill and the water had just crossed the road. He was going over 90 miles an hour in the truck, and he put on the brakes and skidded to a halt just befire he hit the water. He said that he feels the truck would have never stopped under normal circumstances, but he felt that someone had helped him at that point. There was no people hurt from that family although it could have been very tragic. On down a ways further into the ward, there were a number of families on the East side of Wilford that could have been lost, The Dow family which consists of two sons, and Grandparents, and the main family which would be actually four families. There were four families which lived right in the path there, One of the sons was plannning on going down to a lower part of their farm. Something made him decide not to go that day and stay around the house, The Grandparents refused to leave their home when they had heard of the flood and apparently had gotten in their pickup just as the water got to them. They were the only two members of the ward who were killed in the flood. The other members of the Dow family did not leave quickly enough and the water was coming. They drove quickly to high ground in the middle of the ward boundary. The Williard and Ashcraft family had done the same. My First Counseler's wife that day was with a group of Cub Scouts. She and some of the other Cub Scout leaders had all gone to Porter Park in Rexburg. They heard that the dam had broken and had started home. When they started to leave, they were told that they could not go into St. Anthony. She tplked to the police, and told him that she felt that her family was

NIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMENIMIN needed her. She was able to travel the road and make it to the Wilford area before the flood had blocked the roads. However, she was able to see the water and her home was on the far Northwestern part of the community. The White family never left there home, for they felt that the water would never hit it. It di:' not hit there home. The Bodily family had left there home, and when they returned it had not been hit. The water had traveled through their back yard. A former Bishop Birch, a High Councilman, found his home not to have been touched. They went to the High Council to do all that they could do. They notified the people in the Ashton area that they would need food and clothing. Many people took their storage food to the Stake Center in St. Anthony, It became an area for supplying food and clothing in the area. The Wilford Ward was the only ward that had serious damage done to families in the stake. The exception was maybe three homes in the Twin Groves ward. They broke up the membership of our ward into groups. Each of these families were assigned to another Bishop and ward in the stake. They contacted the families as well as they could and made the preperation for those families to stay with other families in the stake, By that Sunday evening, they made living accomodations for everyone. There were over one hundred and twentyfive families in the ward, and most of the homes had been destroyed by the flood, There were only a few homes which were left stand'ng at the end. The Stake Presidency put in radio's at the stake center, and they tried to account for everyone in the flood area. It took several days, but they were able to determine where everyone was in the stake, Bishop George Stone had been trapped in Rexburg, and he was not able to leave. He was on the missing list until he was able to report in the next morning. The Bishop's home had been hit, but it was not destroyed, The Stake Presidency attempted to relieve him of as many possible duties as they could, so that I could take care of my own home and responsibilities. They assigned other Brethren on the high council to work with the people in our ward. We were able to check on each one of them, and it was possible to check on each one of their own welfare. They wished to find housing for

UNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMINNIIIIMUNIMIN all of them at that time. These people lived with other families for several months. Some of the families were quite large with five, six, and seven children. They at times would move in with other families. At times it was quite a burden, but the attitude of the people was tremendous. There were made some very close friendships came from this situation. Most people did not want to split up the families, so it was usually possible for them to stay all together. The personal family which we stayed with was the Birch family. They were one of the families in our ward which did not recieve any damage. We were able to move back into our home after about two weeks, but it was not completely fixed, We had to pull out the carpet. The top floor of the bedrooms were intact and we were able to live there and work in the house to try to get it ready. The remaining people in our area along the street where we lived, the variety of situations were quite similiar to ours. The houses were damaged but were able to be fixed back up. We had the people on our street living there before many of the other areas. There was no power to the homes when we first went back. The power poles across the street had been snapped into two pieces. They, the power company, moved right in to have the power return as quickly as possible. Large equipment came in and cleared the roads of mud and logs. Helicopters brought in and planted new telephone poles. They were able to establish power in my area very quickly which tied in the power between St. Anthony and Rekgurg, The line was established first and we had the power back at our home in a short period of time. One of the next problems after power had been established was that of having clean water. All of the water in the wells had to be checked for contamination. If the wells had been contaminated, the person had to put chlorox down the well and purify it. Our well showed that it had been contaminated on the first test, but on the second test it showed that it was fine, We had electricity back and our water at this pbint. The next thing that happened was that our septic tank collapsed, and it had to be replaced, We were fortunate however that our well worked without any problems

IIIIIIINIMINIIMIIII11111IIMIIII11111IIMIIII11111IIMIIII11111IIMIIII11111IIMIIII11111IIMIIII11111 our rump hhuse was good. Our food storage was in very bad shape. The wheat and things which had been stored down low had all been destroyed and had to be out in the garbage. We pulled out our carpets in hopes that they were not destroyed, but they were completely destroyed also and had to be completely hauled away, The furniture on the lower level of our home had been destroyed. Our television set was gone, We had to tear off the paneling of our walls. The insulation had to be torn out. It took a go)d month of hard work by my family and myself to have the home around to where we could live in it comfortably again. The government was very considerate, and the Red Cross came in to give us a great deal of help. Along with the Church they worked together to restore people in their housing and restore it as best as they could. The government allowed the people to take advantage of trailors which they had. The people were able to place the Hud trailors on their own land as long as they had a well. They put in septic tanks. There was a lot of trouble with this. The people of the government had no idea how to find anybody and so many members of the ward would ride around with the government men and take them to the families. They would assist them on how to get their hud trailors, Many people came out from towns and helped. They came from Ashton and surrounding areas. The state youth services center, a reform school, had some young men come out and move carpets, The rug in the basement and one in the living room were so heavy when it was wet that it took a dozen young men to move those carpets out. They also helped drain the water out of the bashment. These individuals helped many other people. There were many from other towns who came out and helped. There were many from other religions who became involved, The Menenites brought help. There were groups from other Churchs who were there. The different Protestant groups sent people. There was some conflict, however, because there was only so much equipment and so much to be done. Many of the businessmen in the community and many of the farmers brought in their own equipment and helped. We had people come and load up +ons and tons of items and haul them away. There were some trees,!dents, and strawberry patch which were still left, They were buried down

beneath the tiles of rubble, but by the time the equipment had passed over them there was nothing left. Everything was pretty much gone. We tried to turn as much as we could. There was an old car that had floated some two miles down into our front yard, as well as farm equipment, a great deal of aluminum pipe was there from irrigation, parts fo buildings and barns, a great deal of manure, and I believe as I had mentioned before dead fish. There was a little of everything in our yard. Just everything was there. The yard will take this summer to replant grass and grow some new trees,