Mike Moore/WYNews
Learning About the Past
Ranger Nora Halloran educates visitors of the 1959 earthquake during a guided hike down Ghost Village Road last Saturday.
Posted: Friday, July 25, 2014 9:23 am
By MIKE MOORE West Yellowstone News |
As the sun crested over the Madison Range, Gallatin National Forest interpretive ranger Nora Halloran gathered with visitors at the Ghost Village Trail nestled between Hebgen Lake and Earthquake Lake Saturday morning for a short educational hike.
The hike is one of two hikes the Earthquake Lake Visitor Center and Gallatin National Forest hold each Saturday throughout the summer.
As the hike began, Halloran explained why the area is now called Ghost Village. It was during the middle of the night on Aug. 17, 1959, that a massive earthquake near the Madison river triggered a landslide. In approximately 20 seconds following the rumble, 80 million tons of rock fell 100 miles-per-hour down a mountainside, blocking the Madison River.
With nowhere for the water to flow, a lake began to form in the canyon. This caused summer cabins along the river between the slide and Hebgen Dam to rip from their foundations and float around the newly formed lake for a month.
Once an spillway channel was carved and water began to flow down the Madison towards Ennis, the summer homes settled. Those structures still remain scattered along the river to this day, and are still visible, even if they looked a bit crushed from 55 years of harsh winter snows.
Halloran's hike took the group of visitors down a short trail to the "Crazy House," which is one of the remaining cabins from the Halford Camp. Up until a few years ago, visitors could still walk inside the cabin, however, the roof finally gave to deep snow.
The interpretative ranger explained how the earthquake was responsible for 28 deaths in total, with 19 still buried beneath the rubble at Rock Creek Campground, which was situated below the slide.
"It was a pretty dramatic thing," Halloran said. "There were almost 300 campers here that night. People who were trapped fled to Refuge Point."
One of those survivors was John Owen, who was 15 at the time. Owen was staying with his family at the Halford Camp for an annual family fishing trip, and is responsible for many of the historical photos of the tragic event we see today. Since the lake was slowly rising, Owen returned to the damaged cabins for medical supplies once daylight came, snapping the only photos of the immediate damage sustained to Halford Camp prior to the buildings floating off.
Halloran showed many of Owen's historical images along the hike to show visitors how devastating the event was. She says the hikes are a good way to educate people on the geologic and human stories this area holds.
"It's important to preserve their legacy; it's an incredibly seismic area, so it's likely this could happen again," she said.
According to Gallatin National Forest Visitor Services Information assistant Joanne Girvin, they hold both a Ghost Village hike and a Refuge Point hike during the summer months to let people know of the events that took place here 55 years ago.
"We want people to get out and explore," she said. "It's a unique area to go for a walk; it's a beautiful place with a sad story that affected 28 lives."
The hikes will continue each Saturday through Aug. 10. The Ghost Village walk begins at 11:30 a.m., while the Refuge Point walk begins at 1:30 p.m. The Earthquake Lake Visitor Center is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
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