MovieChat Forums > St. Helens Discussion > Harry Truman Refused To Leave

Harry Truman Refused To Leave

posted 12 years ago by Camelot_2000
5 replies | jump to latest

I remember when the volcano was active and saw reports of it on the 6 o'clock news every day. They often mentioned an old man who lived right by the volcano and refused to evacuate his property.

He ran his lodge at Spirit Lake for 52 years and refused to leave once St. Helen's became a danger zone. He and his cats perished when the massive eruption finally happened. That's an interesting story about him. He was quite the stubborn man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Truman_(volcano_victim)

The more I study it, the greater the puzzle becomes.
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[–] jarza_83 11 years ago

Stubborn, yes. But he was also 83-years-old and had lived on that place for over 50 years - most of his lifetime. So what would have happened if he would have agreed to be evacuated and then Mt. St. Helens did what it did to the Spirit Lake valley and surrounding area? The place he loved, his home - destroyed and landscape altered forever. Man of his age, losing everything and probably seeing all the destruction from TV and newspapers over and over. I think that pain and sorrow would have killed him anyway - considering that the mountain and Spirit Lake apparently were kinda his "life-force".

[–] arthurab 8 years ago

He lived and died as he wished. Few can say that. I just hope he wasn't so foul mouthed like he was portrayed.

[–] SSuqui (5) 6 years ago

He kinda was. I had the 1981 National Geographic article on it, and apparently, they censored some of his words. One that sticks out to me was: "I wouldn't live a -- day, not a -- day".

[–] Destinata (2588) 5 years ago

I was an adult when we'd get to see the TV crews try to coax the old man off the mountain. "Well, [several expletives deleted], bless your heart! I appreciate the thought, but I'm not leaving. I've lived on this mountain my whole life, and, [several expletives deleted] this mountain won't hurt me!"

No, he didn't think that he'd be suffocated by a pyroclastic flow, ash, then a few tons of mountain. He honestly thought he was one with the mountain, and the mountain wouldn't hurt him. It goes to show how we can sincerely believe, but we can be sincerely wrong.

And yes, he was exactly as foul-mouthed as was portrayed.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

They say once people get to a certain age that they don't fear death as much. Given his age and the knowledge that the mountain would never be the same in his lifetime I don't blame him for going with the mountain. It seems like the mountain was his world.