Unearthing the lost stories of Mount St. Helens | Oregon Field Guide (full episode)

Amateur archeologists set out to uncover new details about what happened on Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980. Can they find the rumored "bootlegger caves" of Harry Truman, the innkeeper of Spirit Lake Lodge? What stories do the rusted relics found hiding in the ash still have to tell? Scott Kemery and his group of volunteers search the rugged post-eruption volcanic landscape in a quest for answers.

---
Oregon Public Broadcasting aims to elevate and amplify the community, connect Oregon and its neighbors, and illuminate a wider world through stories. OPB Every Day. OPB Everywhere.

#oregonfieldguide #mountsthelens #mtsthelens #mtsainthelens #mountsainthelens #volcano #volcaniceruption #OPB #Oregon #PacificNorthWest

[UnderhillKoufax]

I attended UW Geology classes 15 years later. David Johnston’s old teachers still shed tears when talking about him. He is a geologic hero who served science and the world.

[joegausch]

I lived in Valley Forge, PA. when she erupted.
We had ash laying on the car from that
Incredible how far the wind carried the ash.

[brucejr.]

The legend of Harry's cave will live on forever and that is truly fitting of the man

[AndrewKaiserPhotography]

Wow, this is humbling to watch. Decades on and the mysteries and earth shattering (literally) changes of that event continue to haunt and influence people today. My hats off to the people putting in the hard work and effort to learn and teach us all just a little bit more with every expedition and search.

[MovieViking]

All the other documentaries paint Harry Truman as some kind of drunken lunatic, but congratulations to OPB and those who made this for showing his true nature! He had made his decision knowing full well what could happen and he was not a lunatic, he was at peace with his decision as it could mean the end him being alone in what was supposed to be his and the love of his life's world.

I find him awe inspiring!

[thisolesignguy]

My Great Grandpa was best Friends with Harry Truman. He used to tell me stories of going fishing with him, and they would go mushroom & berry hunting up on St. Helens when my grandpa was a kid so my Great Grandma could make blackberry pie. Harry was my grandpa's first guitar teacher also, Harry was actually trying to teach my Great grandma but she would get so frustrated and put the guitar down. One day my grandpa picked it up and just started playing, so Harry taught him to play and gave him his first steel guitar. I actually have that guitar, my grandpa left it to me when he passed. When I was 10, we went to MT and brought back pictures for my Great Grandpa and also brought a few with us to give to the museum.

[arcar]

The day St. Helen's erupted, my favorite instructor and preceptor from Stockton State College in NJ was just 20 miles away. Jerry had taken a sabatical in my junior year to drive around the US with his wife in his RV. They were opposite the blast sight (to the south west) so they escaped the blast but saw the tragedy unfold. Two years later, returning from a family visit to Seattle, I saw an amazing view of St. Helens and two other volcanoes on the right side of the airplane. It was awesome...nature is awesome.

[luisamarie]

This landscape before the Eruption must have been of unbelievable beauty, as I see on this old photos.

[wrm]

My wife and I were up there on a road trip about 5 days before the eruption. Crazy times. Crazy history. Thanks for the video.

[ElChupahuahua]

I've walked those same grounds. I have a very personal connection to David. God bless him, and I applaud him for both his bravery and sacrifice. He was a great man. Never forgotten.

[ProximaCentauri]

This is probably the best recent retelling of the events that lead up to the eruption of Mount St. Helens. This is also my first time to see the stunning snow-capped volcano in motion picture before the eruption. Watching from the Philippines.

[PacificAirwave]

I was 16. Dad woke me up in the morning saying the volcano was erupting and he had hot soup ready in a thermos. We went up to Mt. Sylvania and everyone there was out in the streets watching it. A huge black ash cloud just boiling up and lightening in it every few seconds... I've seen a number of documentaries over the years but this one really captured the story.

[roberthevern]

That piece of buried
'RV' that may have evidenced Mr Martin's area I recognized as an engine from some diesel bulldozer or similar earthmoving equipment. The part that was visible is the supercharger
(a 'Roots' type of engine feature like that found on WWII airplanes), commonly found on a 4 cylinder diesel engine.
As an 18 yr old, and a motorhead just out of HS, my job had me employed around big cranes and such which had identical superchargers, or 'blowers' as they are known.
Was Mr Martin engaged in such
'road maintenance?

A few yrs later, while in college, my part time night shift job crew began hearing reports of the eruption of St Helen's. We were in shock, to say the least.

So sad for those lives lost. But this is a fitting tribute to those lost on that fateful day.

Very cool that you are able share this search with viewers.

Thanks for this excellent post
OPB!

Idaho viewer.

[OregonOldTimer]

I was at work at the airport in Port Angeles WA that morning. We heard and felt a dull thud. I went outside to see what had bumped into the building. When I came back in, the gate agent was hanging up the phone. It was the mountain. One of our airplanes was taking off from Seattle headed south when the mountain blew. He and his passengers had a front-row seat.
A few hours later, I was flying one of the 14 airplanes circling the flood crest down the Toutle River. I had a geologist and a couple of reporters aboard. I was too busy watching traffic to see much of what was below, but it's an event I'll never forget.

[kristentindle]

I remember where I was any exact moment I spotted the ash cloud on May 18th 1980. Living in spokane. This is a great tribute and well made documentary! Thank you

[michaelstiller]

Wow, watching from Australia. I remember watching TV news when I was a child, nowadays the transformation is amazing? From total devastation, loss of life to a green pasture. RIP brave Souls.

[lakeshoreshepherds]

This is so fascinating to see & remember. I lived in Michigan, and I was 15. And I remember all of our cars and driveways were filled with soot from the Mount Saint Helens explosion.
Thank you for this trip back in time. It’s so sad but so interesting.

[tylerbuckley]

Rest in peace Harry Truman and David Johnston and to the others who did not survive MT.St Helen's you are not forgotten

[Xtinnoker]

I lost my classmate Andy Carr to Mt St Helen’s, Him his Brother and Father all died from the blast. I believe we were in 5th grade.

[chadderrington]

Thank you for making this video and sparking my memories of the eruption and the aftereffects.
I was 10 years old and visiting the Portland Zoo on Sunday the 18th. We took the Zoo Train to the Rose Garden stop, and I saw the mushroom cloud and the ash blowing away to the North and East. When the ash settled in Portland, my friends and I climbed on top of the local Plaid Pantry, scooped ash into my mom's tiny canning jars, took the bus out to the Portland airport to sell the jars of ash (and make a killing) to people flying out of town. We made enough money to buy lunch and pay for the bus fare.