Eight Loggers Die When Tree Falls on Train Near Astoria

Buried in Section D in an obscure grave with no marker is the Swedish immigrant Carl Berg who died on 23 March 1917 near Grays River, Wahkiakum County, Washington. He, along with about 140 other, mostly single, loggers were heading back to the logging camp they lived in at the end of the day. There was a serious spring storm with high winds, heavy rain, and sleet. There was coastal flooding and heavy snow and avalanches in the North Cascades.

In 1917 the loggers were transported from logging operations to a base camp by open air rail cars. The train was noisy and the wind was blowing and the rain added to the misery of travelling on open air rail cars. The train's engineer and brakeman, who were in the cab of the train didn't see it coming and were aware of anything amiss until the 18 inch hemlock hit the car right behind the engine. The approximately 140 employees didn't see it coming until it was too late. The tree hit the rail car killing 7 outright, 1 died on the way to St Mary's hospital in Astoria, and three more later died there.

A survivor, Martin Arcey, who received comparatively minor injuries, a broken arm and cuts, was able to give an account that was quoted in Portland "The Daily Journal": "It came so sudden that the first thing I knew was a black streak above and ahead of me. then the awful crash. I was thrown on my head forward, so I really did not see how the others were injured. I know that a few were directly under the tree, and others must have been against and partly under it as the train moved ahead. All of those who were killed died instantly, I believe."

The coverage in "The Daily Journal" reported: "Both of the cars which carried the men were flat cars. Falling at an angle, the tree pinned the men bneath it, and as the train moved ahead about 20 feet after it was hit, others who were not struck direclty by the tree were swept partly under it and crushed to the floor of the car. the dead were mangled."

Carl is one of two of the deceased who are buried in Portland. The other is fellow Swedish immigrant Axel Dahleen who is buried with his brother and sister-in-law at Rose City Cemetery. According to the death certificates we have located from Clatsop County four of the other deceased are buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Astoria. We have not yet located the five other deceased.

Legislative Act Senate Bill 113, 1943

In the Oregon State Senate, Military Affairs Committee, a Bill for an Act to profide for the acquisition, ownership, control, management, care and preservation of the Multnomah Park Cemetery, etc.

Passed in the Senate on February 6, 1943
Passed in the House on February 10, 1943

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE BY THE STATE OF OREGON

SECTION 1: That Multnomah County, by and through its board of county commissioners, be and said county is vested with authority to accept in the name of the county, by conveyance from the owners thereof, ownership and control of the Multnomah Park Cemetery, located in Multnomah County, Oregon, and said county, upon the acquisition of such ownership and control, shall have and is hereby given authority to provide for the restoration of the grounds, the walks and the graves therein, and the future care of such cemetery.

Section 2: Said board of county commissioners hereby are authorized and empowered to appoint a caretaker for said cemetery and to prescribe his duties and fix his compensation. Said caretaker shall serve at the pleasure of the county commissioners.

Section 3: Said board of county commissioners, upon acquiring ownership and control of said cemetery, shall thereafter include in its annual budget an expenditure covering the cost of maintenance of such cemetery.

The Oregon State Archives contains all kinds of interesting facts from the past.

Daniel Bonner

Daniel Bonner has the record for being the oldest known person in the cemetery. He appears in the 1880 Census of New York City, living with his family. The census record gives his date of birth as 1816. The earliest birth date of cemetery residents goes to Mrs.Agnes Otty, who was born in 1814. Daniel appears in the 1860 census of Philadelphia and again in 1863 in the rolls of the Union Army Draft Register of Pennsylvania. He is listed in the 1910 Census of Hillsboro at 92 year of age.
Daniel was a resident of Hillsboro, but died in the Multnomah County Poor Farm in Troutdale - now McMenamin's Edgefield Manor on November 27, 1918. He was one of over 1300 Oregonians who lost their lives during the Influenza pandemic - most in a two month period.
Daniel, a coal miner from Ireland, was a resident of the Multnomah Farm for 2 months and ten days. He had been living in the country for about 65 years, and was widowed.
His place of interment is currently unknown.

June 30, 1934

On June 30th, 1934, Portland City road crews were out in our neck of the woods taking photos of streets for the City Planners. This photo shows the Park on the left. The entrance pillars can be seen. They were painted white with a painted sign across the top. There was no fence and it looked like the grass was tall. The O.P. Lent monument can be seen. This is the first old photo of the cemetery we have been able to locate. It came from the City of Portland Archives.

Godfred Erickson

Godfred, like so many Swedes seeking a btter life in America, immigrated to the U.S. in 1905. We don't yet know what part of Sweden he came from, but we do know that in 1910 he is living in Nehalem, Tillamook County, and working on the railroad. After working for a time in Tillamook he moved south to Coos County to again, work on the railroad. We know that from his death certificate.
Whatever Godfred's dreams were they were cut short by the Influenza pandemic of 1918. Godfred has the unfortunate disctinction of being one of the first people to die in Multnomah County from Influenza in the late fall of 1918. He wasn't the first to die, but he is the first to die of those unfortunates who died of Influenza in that terrible winter and who are buried at the Park. He became sick on October 10th, had pneumonia by the 13th and was gone just after midnight on the early morning of the 17th.

Loving Friends

Ms. Olive May entered the Garden of Untimely Demise on September 19, 1942 when she fell down a flight of stairs. She had no family to see to her final resting place so her friends saw to it that Olive had a proper burial at Multnomah Park. She was fortunate to have so many friends who cared about her enough to erect such a handsome stone.

Garden of Untimely Demise

Theodore Sykes was an African American man who was married and worked in the ship yards of Portland. He was only 36 when he was murdered when he stepped between two men vying for the affections of a married woman.

Unknown Man

Like all cemeteries, Multhomah Park is the final resting place for those who die without letting us know their names. Such is the case of a 65 year old man whose body was found in the Columbia Slough on February 20, 1929. According to the records he was interred in an unmarked grave in Section C, plot 9.

Perspectives

This photo was taken from the far NW corner of the cemetery looking SE. I think I took the photo in August when the shade of the trees was definitely a welcome place to be.

Roman Tomb in Portland?

Tom and I went to Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery today where I took photos for a class I'm taking this term. Among the family crypts were two like the picture. These crypts are made of poured concrete and were built around 1920. I just think they are way cool!