Community flavors of the Mt. St. Helens Volcano area

Mt St Helens Community Stories

Who better to be a presenter of the Mt St Helens communities than Bud May? He is a "local boy" who has "done good," being a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Bud May was born July 2, 1933, In the Long Bell Lumber Company town of Ryderwood, the youngest of six children of logger Archie May and his wife, Erma.

He graduated in 1951 in the next to last class to earn diplomas from Ryderwood High School before the town was sold and converted to a retirement community.

He attended Lower Columbia Junior College in Longiew for two years, serving on the school newspaper and annual staff as a reporter and turning out for football as a freshman.

While still in school he worked at the Long Bell Weyerhauser Co. sawmills in Longview.

After his 1954 marriage to Betty Eaton of Castle Rock, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and spent two years at Fort Ord, Ca. before returning to Cowlitz County in late 1956.

Bud was hired by the Longview Daily News as a sports writer and police reporter three days after his discharge from the military and spent the next 37 years at the Pulitzer Prize winning publication before retiring in 1993.

Bud and Betty assisted with the establishment of the Castle Rock Exhibit Hall and Visitors Center, where they continue to serve as directors and volunteers..

He is chairman of the Castle Rock Civil Service Commission and holds offices In the local American Legion Post and the Kelso Kiwanis Club.

Bud is a very active member of "RSVP"(Retired Senior Volunteer Program) who spend much of their time being personal ambassadors to the local area. He may be reached through "RSVP" at www.lcc.ctc.edu/programs/rsvp or at crexhibithall@kalama.com

CASTLE ROCK

Castle Rock, a small Southwest Washington city, was known as the gateway to nearby Mt. St. Helens long before the mountain’s 1980 eruption.

Situated beside the Cowlitz River along Interstate Highway 5, the town was named by its first postmaster, William Huntington, when he established a post office in his home in 1854. The name came from a huge rock outcropping on his property along the river, a landmark known to river pilots as the castle rock because of its appearance. Thanks to its proximity to the Cowlitz and Toutle Rivers, and a mainline railroad which runs through it, Castle Rock presented an ideal location for several sawmills that provided employment for its populace in the town's early years. As the local sawmills disappeared over a period of time, most Castle Rock working men found jobs in the logging industry or at sawmills in nearby Longview. Castle Rock currently has a population of about 2,101.

LOGGING CHAMPIONS

Considering their small populations, Castle Rock and the nearby un-incorporated Toutle area have produced an amazing number of nationally known logging show champions.

Best known for their exploits were Hap Johnson and Paul Searls, world champions in their specialties for many years.

Johnson, of Castle Rock, was tree topping champion for 16 years, all around best logger for four years and axe throwing champion for three years. He was actor John Wayne's stand-in for climbing action scenes in the movie "North to Alaska," and demonstrated his skills on several national television programs.

Searls, of Toutle, was champion log bucker for 30 years, and was featured on TV programs such as "You Asked For It" and others. The highlight of a dedication ceremony for California's famed Golden Gate Bridge in 1937 was a log bucking contest in which Searls sawed through a redwood log in two minutes, forty seven and two fifths seconds to defeat a champion from Idaho. He too was a guest performer on a number of TV shows. See story of logger poet.

CASTLE ROCK EXHIBIT HALL

The Castle Rock Exhibit Hall, dedicated on the 10th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St.

Helens, is one of North Cowlitz County's featured attractions for visitors. Operated by the nonprofit Castle Rock Exhibit Hall Society, the facility has three galleries of exhibits, displays and photographs portraying the area's history and culture. Those exhibits include Cowlitz Indian artifacts, logging carvings, sawmilling, logging displays, a Smithsonian Institution exhibit depicting the Mt. St. Helens blast zone, pre-eruption and post eruption pictures of the mountain and Spirit Lake, and other exhibits. The Exhibit Hall also includes a demonstration area that hosts annual quilt shows, holiday wreathmaking and other events, and a small store featuring books by several local residents among its merchandise. In the front of the building is a Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center that provides tourists brochures, maps and information about Mt. St. Helens and other Washington and Oregon tourist attractions.

A historic city jail built in 1907 is located on city property behind the Exhibit Hall. Murals featuring Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake, a logging train and a Sternwheeler water vessel grace exterior walls of three buildings near the Exhibit Hall. Visitors may tour the historic city jail, which has been unused since the mid 1940's.

HARRY TRUMAN

In the weeks preceding the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens, legendary Harry Truman, delighted children with his warmth and determination as he visited schools to explain why he would never leave his beloved Mt. St. Helens Lodge.

Truman, not to be confused with the late President Harry Truman, could also be cantankerous, grouchy and profane. He reportedly ran off the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas after their first encounter at Spirit Lake, although the two later became close friends.

When Truman once happened upon burglars ransacking his quarters, one of the intruders struck him in the head with a club. Although injured, the angered lodge owner jumped into his truck and chased the thugs down Spirit Lake Highway before they managed to elude him. Truman operated the lodge over 50 years before losing his life in the eruption.

HOLLYWOOD GORGE

Hollywood Gorge, a scenic spot along the Toutle River near Castle Rock, owes its name to a movie filmed in part there in 1937. Spectacular waters at the site were ideal for action scenes in the film, "God's Country and the Woman," featuring George Brent and Beverly Roberts in lead roles, supported by other well known actors such as Alan Hale Sr., Barton MacLane Mushy Callahan and Roscoe Ates. Bette Davis was the original choice for the female lead, but turned the role down. Several local residents appeared in the movie in logging and action scenes.

SASQUATCH

Much excitement was generated in 1924 with reports that a miner's cabin in a Mt. St. Helens canyon had been attacked by large, hairy creatures. Huge footprints were found in there, but the elusive beings thought to be Sasquatch were nowhere to be seen. In later years several individuals claimed the attack was a prank and said the giant footprints were artificially made.

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