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

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

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.

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.

That was absolutely fantastic! I love this lost history, especially on Truman and Johnson, so damn mysterious! What a story ! We need a fantastic 3 hour epic movie about this

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.

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.

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.

More Mt. St. Helens, please! The science behind current monitoring efforts and research would be great!

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

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.

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

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.

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.

I lived up in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada at the time, and the winds brought it in a perfect path to our city, 270 miles away. Our entire home and yard were covered with about 3/4 inch of ash. I will never forget that day. Some 30 years later I went on a trip with my family and was able to visit St Helens. It was a beautiful yet somber experience.

I really liked this documentary. Real stories of real people. I especially value the compassionate approach to Harry Truman and his decision not to leave.

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.

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.

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.

I was working in the ER in Longview on May 18. The Injured and burned were brought to us first. It was quite an experience.

I was 10 and was able to watch the eruption from Orchards Wa. Like many a day that i will never forget. The prior eruptions i was able to collect two different kinds of ash on two separate occasions. My dad was in the Coast Guard and we moved to Chincoteague Virginia in 83. This was 7th grade for me and when the classmates found out where i came from they all asked about Mt St Helen's. So my home room teacher allowed me to bring in the ash i had collect and i was able to share my story of Mt St Helen's. This helped me break the ice of joining a new school as i made friends after my story. On another note the documentary is top notch. Like many i have watch and researched so much through out the yrs. This video really hits home because of the search of Jerry and David sites. Would do anything to be apart or be able to experience what you all got to do. So cool and thank you for this documentary! So i have not read through all the replies but that engine looks to be a Detroit diesel. I can tell by the color and the item sticking above the ground looks like a 671 Detroit blower that usual sit in the side if the engine. The photos of the vehicles/rv wouldn't of had the engine. More of a heavy equipment or semi motor/engine.

Great video--- Brings back memories. That Sunday morning I was climbing Mt. Hood starting from Timberline Lodge with 3 other close friends. We were about 3/4 of the way up Hood when it blew. The plume was intense and the first thing I thought about was the chance of a small earthquake on Hood and maybe an avalanche where I was at. Decided not to finished the climb to the summit.

What they thought was the engine from Jerry Martin's RV is a supercharger from a 6-71 Detroit diesel engine, most likely from a piece of heavy logging equipment. or possibly a log hauling semi truck.

There was something about the way that Scott was describing his 5 year old self on that day that brought to mind the same experiences that others have described after major events. Like 9/11, the assassination of JFK, the deaths of Elvis, Michael Jackson, John Lennon, hurricane Katrina, the 2011 Japan Tsunami. Things like that. It's fascinating to me to hear stories from this personal perspective long past the events themselves. We are so lucky that we have had the technology to visually record these events as they happened. Like this video. Telling the real and personal stories. Well done little documentary. I do hope Scott has invested in a pair of actual hiking boots over his sneakers! Go Scott!!

Been living in sight of the mountain all my life in Vancouver. I got fascinated with Mt. St. Helens when we learned about it in first grade. Always pictured Harry standing outside his lodge that morning drinking a Coke and watching it erupt. Seconds later, he along with his lodge and cats were completly buried. What a legend. Outstanding documentary.

What a great story. Takes me down memory lane. I was living in Tualatin at the time of the erruption and could just see the top of the mountain from my appartment and watched in awe as the mushroom cloud grew and spread out. I visited the site with my wife a few years later and it still looked like a moonscape but very cool. We moved to Bend, OR in 1989 with our kids and enjoyed the mountains and trails. Green Lakes was one of our favorite trails with the view of Broken Top near the end of how far we would go with small children. Now retired and living in Gulf Shores, AL. we miss the daily view of the mountains. Thanks for the story.

All I can say, yes thank you for this video.

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.

I lived in Spokane, WA, on May 18,1980. Mt. St. Helens is, I believe, over 300 miles from Spokane. We had gotten home from church and I was working out in the yard when I looked to the SW and saw what appeared to be dark storm clouds approaching. I love storms so I was anxious for these clouds to arrive. A short time later we learned that these were not storm clouds but rather clouds of volcanic ash... never had that happen before - or since. Your video is well put together and I appreciate the personalities that you brought into the story. Thank you for a job really well done!

Thinking Harry could have made it to a cave within seconds is... well... you know.

This is the first time I've ever heard about any caves! 😊

It is so amazing to watch this, but it makes me feel so old because I was there. There isn't a moment of May 18, 1980, that I will ever forget... and I will always cherish the memories I have of being at Spirit Lake the year before the eruption, because it really was a special gem of a place nestled in the Central Washington Cascades.. I was a young and relatively brand new USFS employee just a couple of years into my career working on the south side of what we then called St. Helens Ranger District on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest when the Mt. St. Helens eruption happened. The initial March 18 top-popping eruption is extremely memorable (sounding like a sonic boom at our office on the south side of the mountain) because it - unbeknownst to us - was signaling the beginning of an incredible once-in-a-lifetime saga that we could have never imagined that we would be living for the next several years following the eruption. There is another story that may or may not ever be told about the years of recovery after May 18, 1980, but 05/18/1980 IS the basis of stories that Grandma and Grandpa tell when asked the question "were you really there?" and Grandma/Grandpa say "yup...and let me tell you a story..."

My parents let me go on the roof and watch the eruption! My dad and I watched it for quite a while! Me and the neighborhood kids in Portland would play with the soft ashes that would build up along the curbs of the street.

I'm old enough to remember her before she blew (used to go play on her in the snow) and my family knew Harry. He used to always go fishing while us kids were swimming. I think it was just so he could help keep an eye on all of us and he liked the company. Harry was stubborn as hell but he was also the sweetest old man! ❤️😊 I was a teenager when she blew and watched it from our front picture window in the living room. Something I will never forget!

I was 6 yrs old when this happened.i grew up in Portland and my family and I were on Columbia Blvd heading to my grandmother's house as it blew we saw a handful of other vehicles pulled off the side of the road,an open view thru a large field we saw the huge plume of ash billowing up.inwill never forget this day.Thank you for sharing this,always good to revisit our past weather it be good or bad.its how we learn and grow 👍

Wonderful video. I have a child’s memory of the eruption, too. I still think about Harry. Thank you!

My dad, even rescued a injured cat. We think it was probably an injured bobcat that he nicknamed tootle cat.

My son was born in a British hospital when it erupted. The British nurses were laughing at this American who went around the hospital trying to find a TV where I could watch the eruption (back in 1980, there were VERY FEW TV sets in British hospitals!!) They told me I had a more important "eruption" to pay attention to. In my defense, it was a looong birth process! When we moved back to Portland, and later when he could afford it, he bought a house on the north side of Mt. Tabor, with a clear view of Mt St Helens through their living room picture windows. He regards it as "his" mountain! (And happy retirement, Todd Sonflieth!)

My dad actually lived up there as a logger he witnessed interrupt, and he also did some work clearing some of the debris and some of the damage off the roads that was caused by the explosion

That was informative and touching. Thank you!

Enjoyed watching this, most documentaries on Mt. St. Helens gloss over the small details on what happened. Hope to someday visit the area myself. Would interesting to search for artifacts from that day.

I was 23 and going to college then in Kansas. We got a slight dusting of ash. I remember all the news coverage from the time surrounding the eruption being interested in geology at the time (was studying physics and math). A momentous event in my lifetime. I hope to make it there now that I’ve retired. RIP all who lost their lives that day.

Awesome to see some new stuff on the best volcano, i get tired of re-watching the old stuff haha

I am in tears with this video. I remember that day so clearly and vividly even to this day. I to, was worried about Harry as I was 18 at the time and realizing the impact it was all the way in south Texas as I saw the dust on all the cars in the driveway. Making that connection that the eruption was THAT HUGE.

My brother and I would climb St. Helens as a warmup climb for Rainier. My freshman year in college, we did St. Helens late, in June. At the summit there were all these blue, green, yellow and brown patches. There is red snow in the PNW. I thought how cool, it isn't just a red algae. Digging deeper, I found it was human shit and toilet paper. As his Eagle Scout project, my brother proposed removing it all. The Forest Service said there were tons. I wondered how it would be removed. The day she blew up. I knew.

Nicely done, brought back a ton of memories!

Excellent video. Great info I’ve never seen before.

We were at a retreat on Thetis Island, off of Vancouver Island and knew Mt. St. Helen's was going to erupt soon. It was all over the news and they had already blocked entrance to the surrounding area. So when we heard a large BOOOMMMM before 9:00 a.m. that Sunday morning, we all joked that St. Helen's had erupted. Little did we know she did and we heard the sound 20ish minutes later. Quiet impressive.

After watching so many heartbreaking posts, it is both an honor and a privilege to watch you beautiful video Thank you for sharing your upload

We passed over the Toutle River about a week after the blast. I will never forget how huge trees were laid down like toothpicks, all in one big swath. It looked like the end of the world.

Wow, thank you for making and posting this. I lived in the midwest at the time, and was 21 years old. Prior to the eruption I don't remember there being a Mt. St. Helen. But when it erupted, cable tv was new and common, and we were all glued to the broadcasts. It was horrifying, but your film here gives me a much better sense of scale and time. And horror.

Crazy how well I remember all of this. I was 8 years old when we watched it blow. I have been obsessed with the mountain ever since. Spend a lot of time up there exploring.

One of my earliest memories is seeing the eruption of Mount St. Helens being reported on TV in Australia. I would've been 4 years old. I remember being stunned the first time I saw the time-lapse photos of the eruption.

That was great folks ,thank you for sharing the stories..I was 33yrs old when it happened , but remember it like yesterday..

I had never felt closer to my Higher Power then when I was hiking the trails...Beautiful. Thanks for the insights....was the engine ever positively identified as Jerry Martin's?

I cycle toured through that area in Nov. '80 & found 2 inch deep ash under fir trees 6 months after the eruption. Truely amazing.

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.

Thank you so much for doing such a great job, this is very important history and remembrance

If it got David in about 26 seconds 6 miles away, I'd imagine Harry didn't even get to look out the window, or perhaps he was outside he probably had seconds to realize this is it

When this happened I lived in St. Paul Minnesota. We had ash on everything and the sun was hazy for 2 years after. I live in Portland now and can't imagine what it was like here then.

I was 10 living in Astoria. I remember all the ash and for years we found pumice in young’s bay. This is a great video. Thank you! 😊

I lived in Salem, Oregon on May 18,1980. It started snowing? Luckily we only got a light snow, finally my son hollered out the window, told me what was happening, on tv . It was so strange. I was landscaping, and forgot about it.

This was a beautiful and endearing production.

You know it's going to blow... Condolences to the bereaved and disaffected

Awesome video guys, thanks!!!

Mt. St. Helens erupted 3 weeks after my 6th birthday. We lived in Battle Ground and watched the eruption from the shoulder of Lewisville Hwy. Later, we drove to the Toutle River to see the washed out bridges and mud flows.

The night before I went by on the train. Arriving in San Francisco the next morning and hearing that it erupted was surreal. No planes could fly and on the way home the ash, trees down and everything unrecognizable. We made a stop and suddenly Cool and the Gang got into our car! All of them! I was such a fan but would have never bothered them under those conditions it was enough just to sit by them ❤

Thanks for the video guys . Enjoy hearing the stories . I’m from Texas but have family up there. I made it the I think 6 months after and lots of pics of ash high up on trees . Houses all alone no the river banks, etc

I lived 5 miles south of Cougar and approximately 12 air miles from Mount St. Helens from 1977 until 1993. We lived behind a roadblock for 6 months. Thank you for a very good documentary of what happened. I lived it working for St. Helens Ranger District.

I was crew in the ACOE Dredge Biddle. Along with the Army Corps of Enginners Dredge Pacific and Dredge Harding we opened the Columbia River to ship traffic, not in 3 months but 20 days. We did this by pushing our bows into the river and allowed our propellers to wash the ash down stream. We were sulfer ash covered Heroes of the day.

Yes that part they found is definitely a supercharger on a diesel engine. The force of the blast could easily have moved it from a different location. At the same time martins rv could have been blown to bits and the remnants moved further downwind

I was 3 years old and lived in Kennewick Washington when St Helens erupted. I cant remember anything before it but my sister and I were playing in the yard that morning while my mom was working in the flower bed. I thought it started snowing and i asked my mon why the snow was warm. It was that moment she realized the ash was raining down and she grabbed us and ran us inside. I have memories of the destruction the ash caused that day. Its strange how I have no other memories of that time of my life. Its truly interesting how stress can solidify a memory in your mind.

I was too young to remember when Mt. St. Helens erupted, but I have been fascinated all my life by it. Many years ago, I was talking to my aunt about it, and she said "You know, your uncle and I used to camp up there a lot of summers. It was gorgeous." I asked her, "Did you ever get to meet Harry Truman?" She said, "Yeah. Yeah I met Harry Truman once." I could tell she wasn't saying something, but I kind of pressed her and she told me the whole story. Our family is New Mexican, and my grandparents and their older children moved to Richland during WWII. There's no hiding that we are very brown. She and her white husband decided to stop by the Spirit Lake Lodge. When my uncle walked in, Harry Truman greeted him with a smile and welcomed him in to take a seat, ther was plenty of room. But the smile left his face when my aunt walked in a few steps behind him. Suddenly the lodge was full, and he told her she would have to leave immediately. It wasn't the first time my family faced racism in Washington, but I could tell the memory still hurt. My aunt is the most beautiful soul I know, and because it hurt her, it hurt me. He was a product of his time, and no one in my family would have wished him harm. But when people talk about "Ol' Harry, what a legend! What a great character! You gotta respect him..." it just makes me think of the look in her eye as she told me that story. No one's perfect.

Another absolutely fascinating film, thanks so much to all involved.

I remember this like it was yesterday, I was in Minnesota at the time. So awful. Fascinating. Wow, to be able to see it happen on the news was jaw dropping. Even experts had no idea of the power that was going to be unleashed. Never thought of artifacts!

Scott is doing admirable work but for heavens sake put a hat on man! You dont work out in the hot sun without a hat on. Thank you for this documentary! I was 17 years old when MT ST Helens erupted. We took in a hitchhiker here in Columbus that had been there and given me some ashes.

Interesting , exciting, gorgeous, shocking, sweet, sad, touching documentary. Thank you so much for sharing

Towards the end when the last of the press left because it was getting scary, folks say you could tell Harry was wanting to go too…but he couldn’t.

This was awesome thanks 👍👍

I was 30, living in Seattle, on this fateful day. I've watched every documentary on it. This has been the most interesting, with more details of all the human stories. Good job!

Thank you!! May God bless your journeys!!

I was 22yo in Chicago when this happened. The news coverage wasn't as good as this video. Thank you for doing so well on it. One clear memory I do have is one morning, probably on my way to work, I remember all the ash on my car...like I was in a big dust storm...a long way from this eruption. I remember thinking, "wow, that had to be some huge explosion! It's still hard to comprehend.

I was in 6th grade, elementary school, when the eruption happened and my aunt, who lived (and still does) in Spokane WA , sent me a jar of the ash. I was the hit of the class when I brought that it!

I was in 4th grade, living in Helena, Montana when this happened. I remember very, very well that morning...like it happened yesterday. We woke to see what looked like snow, all over my Mom's red Mercury Marquis. It was still falling for a long time. I remember just how much ash accumulated on the old metal storage shed behind the house, and it just seemed like it was never going to go away. I'm almost 52 now, and it's still just as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.

As a 3 year old I was to the south side of the mountain. My father became the High school principal that year and I grew up in Toutle. It is very interesting to me to see all the changes over the years as when I lived in Toutle it was a grey dusted disaster zone. Thanks for the video.

Love this doc! I was 10 yrs old when it blew and I clearly remember that day and many days after. It snowed ash and was dark for 3 days and ash covered everything for months afterward.

Thank you for this interesting and informative video. I remember that day well. In Omaha Nebraska, we went to work with a thick layer of ash on all the autos. It was amazing to me that the ash would travel that far. Another phenomenon was that when it got cold in late fall, we had new snow almost every day. The side streets couldn't get plowed well, so the streets developed grooves from our tires. We didn't even have to steer when turning a corner; we just put our wheels in the grooves and kept going. Did anyone else have that phenomenon?

I was 7 and in Charlotte N.C.. My mom, dad, and myself were sitting in the carport and I noticed how dusty everything was, so I asked why was everything so dusty. My mom told me is was because of Mt. Saint Helen's. We had ash even from that far away.

I was 11 in 1980 when Mt St Helens erupted. It was awe inspiring. Thanks for the trip back in time.

climbing ST Helens years after opened back up...return to car...told. must drive thru Carson...flume for power plant failed..fond memory

i lived en houston when that happened...i was 12 years old...all the cars had grey dust on them...and we where pretty far away....thank you for the story .. saludos !!!!!

My Husbands Uncle lived in Portland Oregon at the time and sent us some volcanic sand with the Newspaper cutting s and we still have it. We were lived in Derbyshire England at the time. God Bless all those affected.

I love the way the vegetation has grown back!

Thank you for making and sharing this video

The engine block that Scott Kemery stumbles upon is not from Gerry Martin's RV. It is a Detroit Diesel engine found in Kenworth log trucks. Gerry Martin's RV was a Superior motor home on a Dodge chassis, powered by a Dodge 440 or a 318 V8 .

when July eruption sent ash into Portland...Greatful Dead concert in Portland played. ..fire on the mt run run run blue grass tune

My two children and I lived in Vancouver, Washington, and watched Mt. St. Helens erupt in 1980. Personally, I had loved that outrageously beautiful mountain from the first time I saw it years earlier and had spent a lot of time on its slopes. Without realizing how often I was doing so, I drew the kids’ attention to St. Helens, pointed it out on bright sunshiny days after a period of snow had left the mountain in a pristine white snowy coat and also in summer when all the snow had melted but for a bright white cap on the summit. In March of 1980 when ash clouds began to blow high in the sky, I pointed those out as well as the jagged dark gullies in the glittering white snow created when the ash fell back to earth. Twice, prevailing winds blew clouds of ash to us and necessitated hasty cleaning of roofs and gutters. The weight of it, especially when wet, ripped gutters away from houses. Left dry on the ground, streets, driveways and parking lots,the stuff puffed ash clouds up into the air when anything on wheels passed by. To clean it up and contain it was a frustrating task, one that had to be done over and over again. Then came the day of the eruption and all talk by everyone centered around that…for some time. More of my endless fascination and pointing out to the children with comments. “Oh, look. You can see the mountain. Look how much of the top has disappeared!” Or, “It has finally stopped raining and we can see St. Helens again” and more of the same over the passing days. Finally one day at least two months after the eruption, the kids and I were out driving around and I, once again and, obviously, once too often, said “Oh, look! You can see…” when my droll 11 year-old daughter finished the sentence. “I know, Mt. St. Helens.” Meg,” I remonstrated most people have never seen a volcano erupt…” “Yes, “ she answered, “and I have seen and heard about enough of this one.” I was crestfallen but did not bother her about the mountain as much any longer.

What made the most lasting impression on me concerning the eruption of Mount St. Helens was the photo of the dead boy Andy Karr in the bed of his father's pickup truck. That image broke my heart.

This video was awesome, right up there with another video i found couple years ago. It ended with a reunion thinking year 2000. I was grade 11 here in Nova Scotia 🇨🇦,this whole story then as now hooks my imagination. Rest in peace Harry and everyone else. God bless.

I was three years old living in SW Portland. I remember thinking it was snowing and I ran outside to play. That is until my mother figured it out and made me come back in. It might be my oldest complete memory.

I was at Battle Grounds! South of St. Helen! It was going off like a mushroom cloud. Ash on the ground in the morning! It was a memory forever!!! I was there to say goodbye to my grandmother, Hellen Swartz🥹 what a good buy!