I grew up in Longview, spent many winter weekends up at the mountain at the turn-around tubing and going to the lodge in the afternoon for Harry's hot chocolate, he could also cook a mean hamburger. A living legend if you grew up tubing on Mt. St. Helens a visiting with Mr. Truman, RIP
@ i agree with you. I met Harry Truman he was a great guy and that. Jerk didn't have any idea who he was talking about. Thanks for being kind.Harry deserved it
A man like a Harry wouldn't be happy in his remaining days had he left the mountain and saw his home of 53 years destroyed and buried. He knew the danger of remaining on the mountain but the alternative was not appealing , ending up in some old age home with no cats , his late wife's remains buried under a hundred feet of rock and ash. He was in his 80's and had a lot of good years behind him when the wife was alive and all the folks who stayed at his resort and the beautiful place it was. Harry said to himself this is were I want to be and to die.
I have a feeling this could the most epic hidden story. what if his lodge was a lab. what if he had a non satanic secret society run there. what if he had a deep underground base built from the lodge to the mountain. what if they drilled a hydrogen bomb and lowered in it Armageddon style to take out this man that maybe was about to bring out a technology like a Advanced electromagnetic vehicle spacecraft and they buried him and his bunker. and everyone was like meh it was the mountain. even though it looks just like nuclear bomb tests that were done in mountain sides lol. im telling u guys im prolly right. XD. just a thought
I'd like to believe that Old Harry is now reunited with his Wife and in God's Presence. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. He wouldn't want to be on this earth with all the Liberals. He's lucky he had a great life and literally ended with a bang.
He literally said that he'd rather die than see the mountain destroy his lake and cabins. "I'm like the old captain that's going to go down with the ship"
I can understand Harry willing to go with the mountain, but the very least he could have done was let his cats go. They could have brought joy to other people's lives just as they did for Harry. Instead, they suffered the same fate.
A lot of people are missing the point about Harry and his desire to stay put in his lodge. I believe the issue is about age and his quality of life. IF he had been a much younger man, it certainly would have behooved him to make a hasty exit. However, at age 84, he had both the wisdom of a long life and the knowledge of his own self, to make the decision to flee or stay. The idea of having leaving his comfort zone, his "Heaven on Earth", so to speak, would have devastated him. He had become the mountain and the mountain was him. When you kids get older, you will see that there is more to life than "longevity" alone.
I wonder if someone like him would've lasted much longer had he chose to evacuate. You take people like Harry out of their routine, the life they've lived for so long, people like that seem to deteriorate soon after, sadly.
@@davidv2700 I believe if he had come back after evacuating and seen the top of the mountain blown to smithereens and his beloved lake and lodge buried under hundreds of feet of ash and debris his heart would have given out and he would have passed anyways ... so it was for the best he went the way he did quick and painlessly how he wanted staying steadfast there on the mountain until the end.
"He hates drinking, but people drive him to it." God damn, never knew much about Truman, but VERY quickly decided that I LOVE the man! R.I.P., fellow misanthrope!
My grandfather knew Harry and would often launch is boat near the lodge. If you were lucky, you got treated to a home cooked fried chicken dinner at the end of the day fishing. From what grandpa told me it was the best he'd ever had. I remember going up to the mountain with my mom and dad. The old Spirit Lake Highway hugged the Toutle river all the way to the lake and on clear days, St. Helens would peek out between the towering trees as you'd come around a curve offering a periodic glimpse of her splendor. It was breathtaking, even as a kid. The we'd head up to go innnertubing down the slope of the north face at the timberline turnaround. I REALLY miss the way it used to be up there.
From the interview, I'm guessing he probably said something like "Ah hell, now the whole damn mountain's coming down. Well guys (cats) it's time for us to go be with (his wife) now." Nice story, was glad to have found this. Thanks for posting it!
Just went to Mt. St. Helens a couple of weeks ago... visibility was poor, but still a beautiful area. Got to thinking about Mr. Truman, and how he seems to have gone out somewhat on his own terms. Some say if he had survived and seen what happened to the mountain, "his" lake, and lodge, it would have killed him. RIP, Harry, as well as the 56 others.
With the tremendous seismic activity of the mountain collapsing, I doubt any structure, the lodge, would be standing within 5 seconds. Then comes the blast at 22 seconds- with the force of a nuclear detonation at ground zero. Would have loved to see them cats jump, though.
@@mr.anonymous7898 Yup I've always thought that - a few hundred years from now, someone, for whatever reason will excavate that site and find Mr. Truman's lodge and everything else that was buried within the Earth that day.
They found fragments of his lodge in hummock deposits three miles north of where his lodge was, in the Bear Cove area that summer. Read Richard Waitt's book "In the Path of Destruction."
The eruption was anticipated. Mr. Truman was told he would die if he stayed. He chose to stay. It was his love for a half-century. He was ready, and the end was quick. When the mountain blew, I was on the road traveling from Florida to Colorado and heard about it on the car radio. Thanks for sharing.
This is totally awesome. Would of loved to have been able to go to Spirit Lake and stayed with Harry. Looks and sounds like he was one hell of an interesting man. At his age he was a walking history book. Wish there had been more interviews with him. Thank you so very much for sharing this.
Harry Truman was a super badass dude, I would love to have met him, some of my family and friends say I have a very similar attitude! RIP Harry Truman gone but not forgotten!
I’m 19, I remember my grandma talking about mt St. Helens years ago and it was only recently i got reading about it and the story of Mr Truman! He seems such an awesome guy to have met and I see comments here about him, type of person I get on with! Wish I could have seen that lake! Hope he’s resting peacefully in his paradise!
I remember Harry. I remember renting a boat from him. I remember his Pink Cadillac identical to the one Elvis owned. I used to hike to Harmony Falls to drink a quart of beer.
this is why I fell in love with Mt St Helens, not for the past, but what her power has demonstrated. I can understand Harry's point of view, he lived many years, his wife was there. nature itself is its own reward, he loved living next to such beauty. he knew the risks, dont think he didnt know. he lived his way, he chose his demise. I sure hope it was quick, and sadly all but 1 cat died in the eruption, that poor cat probably had a lot of issues after that day. it lost the only home it ever knew, and lost its family. RIP Mr Truman, and RIP to volcanologist David Johnston
Someone asked Harry Truman what he would do "if he saw the lava coming for him", and he said "I'd run". He didn't want to die, he just wasn't going to leave. Most people didn't quite understand HOW this volcano was going to erupt. Spirit Lake Lodge was overrun by the landslide as it hit the lake, and in a painless instant the mountain forever claimed him as her own.
I stayed in one of the small cabins there while on vacation back in 1960. What a gorgeous place! Harry devoted his life there, and I don't blame him for staying. It's all he lived for. Stitch, if that's your picture, look in the mirror! Who's the dumbass?
I read somewhere that it took the lateral blast and land slide about 20 seconds to reach Harry at his lodge. It took about 50 seconds for it to reach David Johnston and he was between 5 and 6 miles away. Harry may have not seen it coming but he knew something was very wrong. David Johnston had plenty of time to watch it coming right at him. Must have been an awesome and terrifying sight.
It took the blast cloud a full three minutes to reach Gerry Martin, and he was on a ridge two miles north of Johnston. It took twenty five seconds for the cloud to overtake Johnston and Martin.
I remember this story very well. I had no idea he was as interesting as the video showed. I wished we had more video of him. He was quite entertaining. And I think he kinda enjoyed some of the attention later on.
I was born in 1983. Three years after the eruption. I like to tell people that I am Harry R Truman reincarnated! I’m just as stubborn as he. Not nearly as badass but I have another 40 years to work on it 😃
I would’ve loved to have met him. Seemed like a funny old guy. What a beautiful place that lake used to be. Wish I cdv seen it before the eruption. I don’t think he would’ve wanted to have survived without his lodge & beautiful lake. I think he knew that, which is why he decided to stay, when so many told him to go. He’d been there so long, that no other place could possibly be home. RIP to Harry & his little cats 😢🕊🐾❤️
40th anniversary I’m reading the National Geographic coverage from their January ‘81 edition. A whole piece on Harry, he really did courageously choose the best way to end his life... not half vegetable half old dude some 7 or 8 years later. That wouldn’t have been his style. What a hero. RIP Harry
He was quite a character. Stubborn, funny sometimes, and I guess he felt lonely after his wife died. He was not the person to move and go live in some place like Longview. That mountain and that lake were all he knew and that lodge was his only home. Lived there 50 years. When the mountain went off, he went with it.
@jeepo4059: You would definitely see it. It’s not like he would seen the land slide than all the sudden lights out. He would seen the tree’s from farther away being crushed by black and coming towards him. He wouldn’t seen the lake lift up as it was like a shockwave at that point. Probably seen flocks and flocks of different kinds of birds flying away across his lake soon as side the mountain gave.
Harry once said the he was a part of the mountain and Spirit Lake and they a part of him. I think it is beautiful that is now true. God Bless you Harry And RIP.
He had 13 cats. By his own statement people weren't good company they only drove him to drink. Harry did it his way and he knew who he was I seriously doubt he was at all lonely.
The important thing was that no person took it down. He went just how he wanted. He really had a poetic end, when you think about it, to die with the lake and resort he loved.
Nothing would remain of this under 150 feet, it was all blown away. It's not like theres signed and cabins and his mummified self in his living room 150 feet down. It was all knocked to bits
Just watched a documentary about the eruption and it includes him. Apparently he moved his mattress to the basement because of the earthquakes. He obviously refused to leave. The scientists said where his place was is now buried 600 feet below ash, rock, mud, etc from the eruption.
I give Harry credit. He lived and died as he wanted. He let no one tell him what to do. Part of me wished he would have decided to get out, so we would still have him. Buit then, how much have Harry had left of himself.
After the erupting volcano woke him and he saw the vast wall of trees, ash and pumice barreling at him at 300+ mph you have to wonder if he thought 'Why did I have to be so stubborn?!' But no doubt it was lights out in a split second. RIP Harry.
Harry R. Truman essentially committed suicide and he was fully aware of that. Truman knew that, even if Mount St. Helens had never erupted, bankruptcy and/or eminent domain would have taken his lodge away from him. He was stubborn only in that he didn't want to leave his beloved land.
You "like to see the man who takes down that post"? I don't know about that sir, but I believe a mountain, Mount St. Helen's, took right off including the entire lodge. It is however sad that all of this is gone and I was born 9 years after the eruption of Mount St Helen's and never got to witness the beauty of this area. Harry, if you were still alive, we could both rip one and drink up!
Harry Truman: "By God, I'd like to see the man that's going to take the sign off of that post." Mt. St. Helens: "I am no man!" Rest in peace, you cantankerous old coot! With respect.
First of ALL ITS was the Mount Saint Helens LODGE. Spirit lake lodge was owned by the Smith family and was a mile from Spirit lake. But still a good story.
Harry Truman was a cranky old man. He refused to abandon his home. He practically did give the mountain the finger before the eruption. It's awful that he was killed from the avalanche & never heard from again.
Did he not have insurance for his lodge? The state of Washington might have paid him millions of dollars in insurance money. He could have rebuilt the lodge right on top of the old one. He would have had his cats, and he had plenty of time to evacuate all his belongings too. I understand though. He was old, and he owned the lodge for many decades. He's still a huge part of Mount St. Helens lore and he's earned a permanent place in history. Harry Truman, may you and your cats rest in peace.
83 was a lot older in 1980 than it is today. He looks pretty robust in this video, and he never had to go into a nursing home. For a man like that, going out fast and dramatic was probably just his style.
I read some first hand accounts of the few logger staff that witnessed the event and lived to tell about it. One guy said they ran into a herd of elk stunned and burnt one one side but still standing/running how sad, Just goes to show that we humans and “our stuff” are just infinitesimal Compared to the functions of the earth and surrounding cosmos. I myself went snowshoeing on Mother’s Day at MSH once so my husband could take a wide format picture at the crater rim over the south side at dawn. It’s a tradition for men to dress up in dresses tutus and hats to snowshoe MSH. It is the last day of spring you can go there without winning the lotto system of permitting back packers in the remains of MT Saint Helen’s national wilderness. This is how they limit human impact in the park
It's kind of bittersweet watching this. This man just wanted a quiet life and yet he died in a pretty big way by the landslide destroying his whole land. Everything is buried deep, never to be seen again. I was born 9ish years after this, sorry I never knew him but I hope he's happy now up in heaven.
At 8:32:11am on 18 May, 1980, Mount St. Helens exploded after an earthquake caused the largest recorded landslide in human history on the north flank of the volcano and a lateral blast that struck Spirit Lake two seconds later. It caused an 850ft. (260m) megatsunami as 430 million cubic metres (350k acres) of debris impacted the water, draining the water from the lake. On top of the landslide was an 800F (400C) pyroclastic flow of poisonous gas that instantly vaporized everything it came into contact with. The force of the blast and the heat of the pyroclastic would have caused his organs to boil and explode: his brain would have literally exploded in his skull, and he would have been vaporized into dust along with everything else filmed in this video. There is no sign left. Harry Truman and his Lodge were pulverized with the force of 27,000 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs at 8:32:13am.
Every time I think of this I think of Harrys wreckless decision to not let people at least rescue his cats. He had like a dozen and people offered to take them out but he refused. I can understand his decision to stay but not the decision for the cats to share the same fate. I was 8 years old when the mountain blew. That all said, he clearly was a man of much wisdom and despite his sour attitude at times you can clearly see he was a good man with a unique sense of humor. He has been immortalized and will outlive us all in memory.
what he was hoping for is that the volcano had a minor eruption and everyone came back to town and he would say "I told you there was nothing to worry about" and then he would write a book called "The Day I Stood Up to the Mountain and Won"
He smoked the biggest cigarette nature has to offer for his last smoke! My school took me on a field trip to the lava tubes before St Helens exploded, but we never went to Spirit Lake. Too bad. I wish I had seen it.
Harry was the first man in history to take it all with him when he died (his lodge, cabins, car, boats, whiskey, cats, Spirit Lake and his mountain.)
Well, he said the mountain was a part of him. Now he literally is a part of the mountain.
What a legend, he'll be remembered for generations probably.
Unless he was pliney the elder
You know I don't think there has ever been a finer words spoken about this man than what you wrote!!
@@Srekwah I really hope so with the way our society is falling off. He'd really be drunk if he was around in our times.
I grew up in Longview, spent many winter weekends up at the mountain at the turn-around tubing and going to the lodge in the afternoon for Harry's hot chocolate, he could also cook a mean hamburger. A living legend if you grew up tubing on
Mt. St. Helens a visiting with Mr. Truman, RIP
I've heard that his grumpy disposition was a show for the cameras. What are your memories of Harry as a person?
Remember what toppings Harry would put on his burger, if any?
he probably gave the mountain the finger as it was erupting.
julius ceasar LOL! Right!
julius ceasar 🖕🏼
@ i agree with you. I met Harry Truman he was a great guy and that. Jerk didn't have any idea who he was talking about. Thanks for being kind.Harry deserved it
probably yelling "YOU HEARD IT FIRST FROM HARRY!!!!!!"
Lmao
A man like a Harry wouldn't be happy in his remaining days had he left the mountain and saw his home of 53 years destroyed and
buried. He knew the danger of remaining on the mountain but the alternative was not appealing , ending up in some old age home
with no cats , his late wife's remains buried under a hundred feet of rock and ash. He was in his 80's and had a lot of good years behind him when the wife was alive and all the folks who stayed at his resort and the beautiful place it was. Harry said to himself this is were I want to be and to die.
he could've just rebuilt
I have a feeling this could the most epic hidden story. what if his lodge was a lab. what if he had a non satanic secret society run there. what if he had a deep underground base built from the lodge to the mountain. what if they drilled a hydrogen bomb and lowered in it Armageddon style to take out this man that maybe was about to bring out a technology like a Advanced electromagnetic vehicle spacecraft and they buried him and his bunker. and everyone was like meh it was the mountain. even though it looks just like nuclear bomb tests that were done in mountain sides lol. im telling u guys im prolly right. XD. just a thought
I'd like to believe that Old Harry is now reunited with his Wife and in God's Presence. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. He wouldn't want to be on this earth with all the Liberals. He's lucky he had a great life and literally ended with a bang.
He literally said that he'd rather die than see the mountain destroy his lake and cabins. "I'm like the old captain that's going to go down with the ship"
I can understand Harry willing to go with the mountain, but the very least he could have done was let his cats go. They could have brought joy to other people's lives just as they did for Harry. Instead, they suffered the same fate.
A lot of people are missing the point about Harry and his desire to stay put in his lodge. I believe the issue is about age and his quality of life. IF he had been a much younger man, it certainly would have behooved him to make a hasty exit. However, at age 84, he had both the wisdom of a long life and the knowledge of his own self, to make the decision to flee or stay. The idea of having leaving his comfort zone, his "Heaven on Earth", so to speak, would have devastated him. He had become the mountain and the mountain was him. When you kids get older, you will see that there is more to life than "longevity" alone.
+StellarBlue1 You are so right.
StellarBlue1 totally agree! At 84 what difference does it make?
well said!!!
I wonder if someone like him would've lasted much longer had he chose to evacuate. You take people like Harry out of their routine, the life they've lived for so long, people like that seem to deteriorate soon after, sadly.
@@davidv2700 I believe if he had come back after evacuating and seen the top of the mountain blown to smithereens and his beloved lake and lodge buried under hundreds of feet of ash and debris his heart would have given out and he would have passed anyways ... so it was for the best he went the way he did quick and painlessly how he wanted staying steadfast there on the mountain until the end.
"He hates drinking, but people drive him to it." God damn, never knew much about Truman, but VERY quickly decided that I LOVE the man! R.I.P., fellow misanthrope!
Shit
God dawn,
I love this guy! He loved his lodge and his life and he went out on his own terms! Good for him!
Took me finding the truth about him and I love him now after years of judging him when, I got to know he's a man after my own heart.
My grandfather knew Harry and would often launch is boat near the lodge. If you were lucky, you got treated to a home cooked fried chicken dinner at the end of the day fishing. From what grandpa told me it was the best he'd ever had. I remember going up to the mountain with my mom and dad. The old Spirit Lake Highway hugged the Toutle river all the way to the lake and on clear days, St. Helens would peek out between the towering trees as you'd come around a curve offering a periodic glimpse of her splendor. It was breathtaking, even as a kid. The we'd head up to go innnertubing down the slope of the north face at the timberline turnaround. I REALLY miss the way it used to be up there.
You saw the MT St Helens before the 1980 eruption? So cool!
I've been up there more times before than after the eruptions; the trout in that lake were spectacular
Did you ever see any of the smaller lakes like venus or panhandle they had big cutthroat and rainbows
@@DVFDrinkOrDie they still are. you can still hike out there on a nice day and fish in solitude among the rebirth of the mountain
From the interview, I'm guessing he probably said something like "Ah hell, now the whole damn mountain's coming down. Well guys (cats) it's time for us to go be with (his wife) now."
Nice story, was glad to have found this. Thanks for posting it!
RIP Harry and David. You lived and died doing what you loved to do.
Just went to Mt. St. Helens a couple of weeks ago... visibility was poor, but still a beautiful area. Got to thinking about Mr. Truman, and how he seems to have gone out somewhat on his own terms. Some say if he had survived and seen what happened to the mountain, "his" lake, and lodge, it would have killed him. RIP, Harry, as well as the 56 others.
1st to reply to you in 7 years !
R.I.P. Harry R. Truman😎☕
Yes, after having put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into his property, I don't blame him for wanting to go out with it.
I heard a geologist say that Harry had 22 seconds from the time of the eruption to when it hit the lodge. He will forever be part of his mountain.
With the tremendous seismic activity of the mountain collapsing, I doubt any structure, the lodge, would be standing within 5 seconds. Then comes the blast at 22 seconds- with the force of a nuclear detonation at ground zero. Would have loved to see them cats jump, though.
Awesome comment!@@RW4X4X3006
Yep, another one. Wish you could've seen them cats jump, huh? I wish you could've been there to see it too! Asshole.
@@RW4X4X3006 Demon. Animal abuser.
Yeah, watch a single cat jump through all nine lives all at once right before your eyes before the mountain eats you up.@@RW4X4X3006
Old Harry went the same way his mountain did - doing their thing.
I bet, 150 under all that mud and ash, harry's sign is still standing
Cursing at it the mountain for trying..
Preserved like Pompeii.
It’s probably preserved like in Pompeii
@@mr.anonymous7898 Yup I've always thought that - a few hundred years from now, someone, for whatever reason will excavate that site and find Mr. Truman's lodge and everything else that was buried within the Earth that day.
They found fragments of his lodge in hummock deposits three miles north of where his lodge was, in the Bear Cove area that summer. Read Richard Waitt's book "In the Path of Destruction."
The eruption was anticipated. Mr. Truman was told he would die if he stayed. He chose to stay. It was his love for a half-century. He was ready, and the end was quick.
When the mountain blew, I was on the road traveling from Florida to Colorado and heard about it on the car radio.
Thanks for sharing.
This is totally awesome. Would of loved to have been able to go to Spirit Lake and stayed with Harry. Looks and sounds like he was one hell of an interesting man. At his age he was a walking history book. Wish there had been more interviews with him. Thank you so very much for sharing this.
Aint no doubt about that Windy !
Harry Truman was a super badass dude, I would love to have met him, some of my family and friends say I have a very similar attitude! RIP Harry Truman gone but not forgotten!
What an awesome man. He truly was a legend in his own right. May he, his cats, and the other 56 victims rest in peace.
Thank you
🐺🦊🐱🐈😭
I’m 19, I remember my grandma talking about mt St. Helens years ago and it was only recently i got reading about it and the story of Mr Truman! He seems such an awesome guy to have met and I see comments here about him, type of person I get on with! Wish I could have seen that lake! Hope he’s resting peacefully in his paradise!
Yes i met him. And you are a sweet kid that I'm sure he would of loved to meet. Me also
I remember Harry. I remember renting a boat from him. I remember his Pink Cadillac identical to the one Elvis owned. I used to hike to Harmony Falls to drink a quart of beer.
As I approach age 70, I figure being just like ole Harry is a worthy life goal. Now, get off my lawn!
Damn hippies!
"Sorry, Mr. @c..5, we were just getting our ball.., again! ha ha ha."
"We meant Frisbee, not ball.., ha ha ha again!"
"IWe meant we're just looking for our lost dogs and cats, and Billy's stupid little sister who loves to stomp on grass lawns.., ha ha ha!"
this is why I fell in love with Mt St Helens, not for the past, but what her power has demonstrated. I can understand Harry's point of view, he lived many years, his wife was there. nature itself is its own reward, he loved living next to such beauty. he knew the risks, dont think he didnt know. he lived his way, he chose his demise. I sure hope it was quick, and sadly all but 1 cat died in the eruption, that poor cat probably had a lot of issues after that day. it lost the only home it ever knew, and lost its family. RIP Mr Truman, and RIP to volcanologist David Johnston
Harry: “I’d like to see the man who tries to take that sign off that post.”
Mount St. Helens: “Hold my whiskey and coke.”
Someone asked Harry Truman what he would do "if he saw the lava coming for him", and he said "I'd run". He didn't want to die, he just wasn't going to leave. Most people didn't quite understand HOW this volcano was going to erupt. Spirit Lake Lodge was overrun by the landslide as it hit the lake, and in a painless instant the mountain forever claimed him as her own.
How old was he when he was asked that? If he was over 80 he was pulling their leg.
Or in several minutes of being burned and suffocated. Either way.
I stayed in one of the small cabins there while on vacation back in 1960. What a gorgeous place!
Harry devoted his life there, and I don't blame him for staying. It's all he lived for.
Stitch, if that's your picture, look in the mirror! Who's the dumbass?
Yes he was a great guy
so you think forcing those animals to stay when it erupted was good
@@tamaraloca-t9092 Harry was an interesting person in an interesting part of the world.
@@michellepalmateer9955 Yes he was. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest also 😸
I feel like a little kid reading these stories.
I read somewhere that it took the lateral blast and land slide about 20 seconds to reach Harry at his lodge. It took about 50 seconds for it to reach David Johnston and he was between 5 and 6 miles away. Harry may have not seen it coming but he knew something was very wrong. David Johnston had plenty of time to watch it coming right at him. Must have been an awesome and terrifying sight.
It took the blast cloud a full three minutes to reach Gerry Martin, and he was on a ridge two miles north of Johnston. It took twenty five seconds for the cloud to overtake Johnston and Martin.
I remember this story very well. I had no idea he was as interesting as the video showed. I wished we had more video of him. He was quite entertaining. And I think he kinda enjoyed some of the attention later on.
I bet his spirit comes back for a visit on occasion. 🕊️🌺🕊️
Where?
There’s literally nothing left
I was born in 1983. Three years after the eruption. I like to tell people that I am Harry R Truman reincarnated! I’m just as stubborn as he. Not nearly as badass but I have another 40 years to work on it 😃
I would’ve loved to have met him. Seemed like a funny old guy. What a beautiful place that lake used to be. Wish I cdv seen it before the eruption. I don’t think he would’ve wanted to have survived without his lodge & beautiful lake. I think he knew that, which is why he decided to stay, when so many told him to go. He’d been there so long, that no other place could possibly be home. RIP to Harry & his little cats 😢🕊🐾❤️
40th anniversary I’m reading the National Geographic coverage from their January ‘81 edition. A whole piece on Harry, he really did courageously choose the best way to end his life... not half vegetable half old dude some 7 or 8 years later. That wouldn’t have been his style. What a hero. RIP Harry
He was quite a character. Stubborn, funny sometimes, and I guess he felt lonely after his wife died. He was not the person to move and go live in some place like Longview. That mountain and that lake were all he knew and that lodge was his only home. Lived there 50 years. When the mountain went off, he went with it.
This man is one of my heroes. His memory lives on forever.
I can't even imagine the vision of frightening Harry Truman had when he saw the mountain coming toward the lake. A pure nightmare
He didn’t have TIME to be frightened, much less for it to even register...❤️
He was frightened in the final few days.
The tough talk was a mask for his fear of losing everything, whether he stayed or went.
@jeepo4059: You would definitely see it. It’s not like he would seen the land slide than all the sudden lights out. He would seen the tree’s from farther away being crushed by black and coming towards him. He wouldn’t seen the lake lift up as it was like a shockwave at that point. Probably seen flocks and flocks of different kinds of birds flying away across his lake soon as side the mountain gave.
The site of the old lodge is now 150 feet below the bottom of the new lake....
Harry once said the he was a part of the mountain and Spirit Lake and they a part of him. I think it is beautiful that is now true. God Bless you Harry And RIP.
Washington Legend in life and after. She's still your Mountain Mr. Truman and always will be.
He had 13 cats. By his own statement people weren't good company they only drove him to drink. Harry did it his way and he knew who he was I seriously doubt he was at all lonely.
The important thing was that no person took it down. He went just how he wanted. He really had a poetic end, when you think about it, to die with the lake and resort he loved.
Hard to believe that spot his cabin is on is blown to bits and buried in 100ft of ash and mountain dirt!
Harry owned Mt. St. Helen's Lodge, NOT Spirit Lake Lodge! Spirit Lake Lodge was a neighboring lodge owned by Dave and Miriam Smith.
Dianne Bishop thanks so much for clarifying this. There aren't many maps showing the precise locations of the two lodges.
Kreemerz I was looking for a map of the location and well, ended up side tracked. Haha I never found that map, though.
This is wonderful! Thank you for sharing this with us!!
I'd love to listen to him ramble on for hours if I had the chance to bad our life lines didn't match up
Wish I could have met you Harry!
Nothing would remain of this under 150 feet, it was all blown away. It's not like theres signed and cabins and his mummified self in his living room 150 feet down. It was all knocked to bits
R.I.P. Old Harry and his lovely Cats! Hope it was quick!
Great video, Harry was a funny man. Loved his surroundings so much. At least no man took that sign down.
KOsfc Nope, no man did... it was Mother Nature that did the job.
This is absolutely incredible. Thank you for sharing.
No man ever managed to take his sign down! The mountain did.
Just watched a documentary about the eruption and it includes him. Apparently he moved his mattress to the basement because of the earthquakes. He obviously refused to leave. The scientists said where his place was is now buried 600 feet below ash, rock, mud, etc from the eruption.
Harry and the kitties now living in the big lodge in the sky. :-(
You just HAD to bring the kitties into this... 😿
😿😿😿😿
Aww 😿😿😿😿😿😿😿😿😿😿😿😿😿💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔
He was a great man. Old school man. He was going broke & still fought
You don't believe Harry was going broke do you? Harry was doing just fine year after year. He was a decent man
I give Harry credit. He lived and died as he wanted. He let no one tell him what to do. Part of me wished he would have decided to get out, so we would still have him. Buit then, how much have Harry had left of himself.
Lol ol Harry would have been cool man to hang out with listening to old stories
After the erupting volcano woke him and he saw the vast wall of trees, ash and pumice barreling at him at 300+ mph you have to wonder if he thought 'Why did I have to be so stubborn?!' But no doubt it was lights out in a split second. RIP Harry.
Harry R. Truman essentially committed suicide and he was fully aware of that. Truman knew that, even if Mount St. Helens had never erupted, bankruptcy and/or eminent domain would have taken his lodge away from him. He was stubborn only in that he didn't want to leave his beloved land.
Why is the video called "Spirit Lake Lodge" when his sign clearly said "Mt. St. Helens Lodge"?
iam shure happy you filmed this on spirit lake lodge and harry. best ive seen wish i had some pictures of the lake and lodge
I WISH I GREW UP NEAR THERE...HELLO FROM SAN FRANSOCO CALIFORNIA YA'LL !!!
"You don't like my apples don't shake my tree"😂
How did Harry Truman get the money to build his lodge and then rebuild it later after a fire??
Harry: "By God, I would like to see the man that gonna take that sign off that post!"
God: *hold my beer*
well said !
I don't think anyone could have foreseen the magnitude of utter destruction that was to occur.
Or what can still occur.
You "like to see the man who takes down that post"? I don't know about that sir, but I believe a mountain, Mount St. Helen's, took right off including the entire lodge. It is however sad that all of this is gone and I was born 9 years after the eruption of Mount St Helen's and never got to witness the beauty of this area. Harry, if you were still alive, we could both rip one and drink up!
great little piece of history here
I missing good old Harry RIP old old friend⚓️
Has anyone ever been able to find the site where the lodge was?
Harry Truman: "By God, I'd like to see the man that's going to take the sign off of that post."
Mt. St. Helens: "I am no man!"
Rest in peace, you cantankerous old coot! With respect.
So wtf's the backstory here? THey were trying to take his land? Who? The logging companies? THe county?
Wish I had the chance to see Spirit Lake before May 1980. But I was born in 1994
First of ALL ITS was the Mount Saint Helens LODGE. Spirit lake lodge was owned by the Smith family and was a mile from Spirit lake. But still a good story.
As for his cats not having a choice. Neither did the other 200,000 plus animals... no difference they lived at his land he just feed them...
I think animals normally use their higher senses and can detect volcanic eruptions and natural disasters.
The difference was those cats had a human with the ability to aid them to safety .A thing called evacuation
Harry Truman was a cranky old man. He refused to abandon his home. He practically did give the mountain the finger before the eruption. It's awful that he was killed from the avalanche & never heard from again.
It's pink Harry!...well that's the color of the passion pit!!! With a smile after, man that's great old man funny too...lol.
My sole goal in life is to be just like this man.
The old fart.. May he Rest In Peace.on the mountain he loved so much:o)
Did he not have insurance for his lodge? The state of Washington might have paid him millions of dollars in insurance money. He could have rebuilt the lodge right on top of the old one. He would have had his cats, and he had plenty of time to evacuate all his belongings too. I understand though. He was old, and he owned the lodge for many decades. He's still a huge part of Mount St. Helens lore and he's earned a permanent place in history. Harry Truman, may you and your cats rest in peace.
83 was a lot older in 1980 than it is today. He looks pretty robust in this video, and he never had to go into a nursing home. For a man like that, going out fast and dramatic was probably just his style.
Kevin Arco n,
83 is still older than the average life expectancy. Lol.
Insurance companies rarely cover 'acts of God'
Kevin Eagle I agree! Well said! 👍👍👍 RIP
I see why he live there. Very beautiful place and lodge ..I always liked old Harry.
Thank you for uploading this video.
I read some first hand accounts of the few logger staff that witnessed the event and lived to tell about it. One guy said they ran into a herd of elk stunned and burnt one one side but still standing/running how sad,
Just goes to show that we humans and “our stuff” are just infinitesimal
Compared to the functions of the earth and surrounding cosmos.
I myself went snowshoeing on Mother’s Day at MSH once so my husband could take a wide format picture at the crater rim over the south side at dawn. It’s a tradition for men to dress up in dresses tutus and hats to snowshoe MSH. It is the last day of spring you can go there without winning the lotto system of permitting back packers in the remains of MT Saint Helen’s national wilderness. This is how they limit human impact in the park
Simone Schultz Thanks for sharing Simone.
I WAS IN THE 8TH GRADE WHEN MT ST HELENS BLEW UP ...THIS WAS AMAZING TO US HERE IN CALIFORNIA
A classmate of mine was born on the day Mt St Helens erupted. I was around 2 months old.
I was born a month after it blew. Sucks that we’ll never get to see this place the way it was back then.
It's kind of bittersweet watching this. This man just wanted a quiet life and yet he died in a pretty big way by the landslide destroying his whole land. Everything is buried deep, never to be seen again. I was born 9ish years after this, sorry I never knew him but I hope he's happy now up in heaven.
I bet that sign is still standing under all that ash.
At 8:32:11am on 18 May, 1980, Mount St. Helens exploded after an earthquake caused the largest recorded landslide in human history on the north flank of the volcano and a lateral blast that struck Spirit Lake two seconds later. It caused an 850ft. (260m) megatsunami as 430 million cubic metres (350k acres) of debris impacted the water, draining the water from the lake. On top of the landslide was an 800F (400C) pyroclastic flow of poisonous gas that instantly vaporized everything it came into contact with. The force of the blast and the heat of the pyroclastic would have caused his organs to boil and explode: his brain would have literally exploded in his skull, and he would have been vaporized into dust along with everything else filmed in this video. There is no sign left. Harry Truman and his Lodge were pulverized with the force of 27,000 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs at 8:32:13am.
I imagine Harry died long before those things happened. He was probably struck by so much debris that he was unconscious.
Every time I think of this I think of Harrys wreckless decision to not let people at least rescue his cats. He had like a dozen and people offered to take them out but he refused. I can understand his decision to stay but not the decision for the cats to share the same fate. I was 8 years old when the mountain blew. That all said, he clearly was a man of much wisdom and despite his sour attitude at times you can clearly see he was a good man with a unique sense of humor. He has been immortalized and will outlive us all in memory.
To this day he isnt forgotten rest on peace harry
Harry lived life on his terms, and die that way as well . I respect that.
Hope you got to see the Man who took the sign down Brother👍❤️🙏
I wish I could of drank with him
He was a great guy
what he was hoping for is that the volcano had a minor eruption and everyone came back to town and he would say "I told you there was nothing to worry about"
and then he would write a book called "The Day I Stood Up to the Mountain and Won"
I wish I could of had a drink with Harry!!!
I hope he had his last whiskey with his 🐈 cats as they watched the mountain blow up.
We need more people like Harry today. I'd rather be around someone like him than most of the fake people I'm around today.
Mother nature did it for him, they need to make that spot again as a moment to him, call it Truman's last stand.
where exactly was this located on Spirit Lake? was anything recovered at all? this dude kind of seemed like a grumpy old man
Can’t imagine the size of the tsunami wave that swept over the lodge and poor old Harry.
He smoked the biggest cigarette nature has to offer for his last smoke!
My school took me on a field trip to the lava tubes before St Helens exploded, but we never went to Spirit Lake. Too bad. I wish I had seen it.
R.I.P. you cranky old bastard...said with love.
If you don't like my apples don't shake my tree.
"WELL AM NOT LEAVIN! I WAS BORN IN THIS HOLE I WILL DIE IN THIS HOLE!"
If you don't like my apples, then don't shake my tree. I want it on a shirt.
Its perfect, aint it?
Cant blame him at all. Living out the rest of ones days the way he wanted and where he wanted instead of a nursing home.
3:49 🐺😭😭😭😭😭