The Tragic Burial of a Mining Camp
A massive snow slide crashes through the Vallejo mining camp, claiming multiple lives and leaving a community to dig through the frozen rubble.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
At a quarter past 8 o'clock, a massive snow slide swept down over the mining camp of Alta, four miles from the town, burying the settlement and killing several people, including five women. It has been snowing for some time, and the weight of the snow upon the crest of the mountain finally gave way. The slide struck the town, crushing about one-fourth of it. The boarding house and hotel were deserted for the night. The slide broke through the roof of the boarding house and the hotel was crushed. The Vallejo works, including buildings and tramways, were destroyed. Thomas had just been in the drift and escaped injury. Three were taken out of the debris with much difficulty, amid a heavy storm and severe cold. One man was not dead when taken out, but died soon after. The bodies of James Watson and Mrs. John Ford were also taken out, quite dead. The list of those dead or missing includes Andrew White, Sam Cookson, Fred Collins, Mattie Stover, Charley Volk, two Chinese miners, Jerry Reagan, David Evans, the child of Mrs. Ford, and the children of Ed. Halloa.
“The slide struck the town, crushing about one-fourth of it. Three were taken out of the debris with much difficulty, amid a heavy storm and severe cold.”
While climate patterns in the Pacific Northwest continue to shift, this 1885 account reminds us that our mountainous geography remains a place of unpredictable power. The tragedy in Alta serves as a stark historical precursor to modern avalanche dangers, which continue to threaten both backcountry recreationists and infrastructure in the Cascades today.
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