Tragedy on the South Shore – 1945 Remembered

A Personal Story Written by a Survivor’s Son

by Robert (Bub) Watson, Jr. – used by permission.

Publisher’s Note: At this festive time of family and friends, we also remember and honor the empty chairs around the table – those we lost this past year and those lost throughout our lives. In the Lake Chelan Valley, no holiday season was as heart-wrenching as 1945, when a tragic school bus accident decimated much of an entire generation of this tight-knit south shore community’s children. Monday, the 26th, marks the 73rd anniversary of the accident.  This story reflects the background and personal experience of “little Bobby Watson”, one of the few survivors of the accident as told by his son. Following the Watson story, there is a link to a film taken during the recovery efforts, along with pictures and historical notes from the Washington State archives. The original monument (pictured above) includes a bench purchased and engraved by the Lake Chelan Rotary Club in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the accident. To this day, school buses full of children take an alternate route to and from Chelan.  Never Forgotten.

1945: An Era of Community

Growing up on Lake Chelan’s South Shore during the 1930’s and 40’s was much like that of the Walton kids who grew up in the 1970’s television series. Life was full of simple pleasures and community unity during a post depression era, filled with rumors of war, actual war, and uncertainty.

The Walton’s series takes place in a small rural mountain community in Virginia after the great depression and lasting through the second great world war. A time when women wore dresses and both men and women worked long hard days just to get by and survive.

Long before cell phones, computers or even television, the family and the home were close-knit. Family caring for each other just like the communities they belonged to cared for each other. In those days, families had dinner together and then retired to the living room, for the living room was the true hub of the family and their home. It was normally the warmest room in the house where the kids would play or do their homework while Dad would read the newspaper and Mom would sit and mend the kids clothes. While there was no television, most families had a radio and the family would also gather around that radio to listen to their favorite program or take in the days’ news.

Much like the Walton kids, this was the life of seven-year-old Bobby Watson, except he did not have all the siblings around. Bobby had two older brothers but they were out of school and away from the home. Bobby also would have had two other siblings, but a sister drowned in Lake Chelan many years prior when she was three and a brother, also much older, died when he was only three months old. Both were born several years prior to Bobby’s birth. He also had a younger brother not yet in school so Bobby didn’t really have any playmates — but this winter would be different.

Mr. and Mrs. Roger Hale lived far up Twenty Five Mile Creek. Twenty Five Mile Creek was a long way from the town of Chelan and from the public school and the Hales lived several miles up the creek from where the bus picked up the students to take them into town to attend school. Because of this and because the Hales had two sons who needed to attend school, they moved into a cabin at the Watson’s place for the winter. The Hale’s sons were Douglas, who was eight and Stuart, who was seven.

The Gilmores were also living in a cabin on Watson’s property where the present day Alpenhorn Cafe is now located. They too had a son, Vernard James, who was also seven. This would be a great winter for Bobby and the three other boys.

Community during these times was very important and even though the South Shore community was spread out over ten miles of lake shore as well as up canyons and valleys, this community was close and the Twenty Five Mile Creek Grange was what brought all these neighbors together. Whether it was to attend a monthly meeting or to gather for a holiday party, or greeting a new family to the area or just gathering together for no real reason, life long friendships were made because of the Twenty Five Mile Creek Grange.

But for the “First Creek boys”, they would not have to wait to see each other on the bus or wait until a Grange gathering this winter. They would all be neighbors and they were all within walking distance from each other. Thus, plans were being made by the four youngsters. There were snow forts to be built once the snow arrived. And there would be hours and hours of sledding down the Watson’s drive way. And even though snow had not yet arrived, the boys all had their sled runners waxed up and ready for the snow. All four sleds were neatly leaned up against a tree by the Watson’s home in order of size. It would be a great winter at First Creek.

Back in the 1940’s Chelan’s South Shore had a number of younger families who had children and all these kids, even those in high school, rode the bus daily to and from school. These kids were scattered up and down the lake shore.

Riding the school bus was also a social thing for the kids on the South Shore, especially those on the upper end of the route. Many hours were spent on the bus each year and kids, young and old alike, got to know each other well and became good friends. Even the older high school age kids were good to the little ones riding the bus and it was not at all uncommon for a younger child to sit with one of the older kids.

The South Shore road back in the 1940’s was nothing like it is today. The road was narrow with many curves and step inclines. The worst section of road was referred to as “The Rock Cut”. This section was located about a mile downlake from the Watson’s home at First Creek. This section of road got its name for the roadway that was literally cut (blasted) out of shear cliff. It was narrow. So narrow that in many places you could not pass when a car was coming in the other direction. You would have to watch the roadway ahead of you and if a car was coming, you would have to find a wide spot to pull over to the side and wait for the oncoming car to get by you.

And there were cliffs on each side of the road. On the lake side of the road, the cliffs dropped down over 1,000 feet to the depths of Lake Chelan, while on the other side of the road, the mile long cliff went upward as if to meet the heavens. And this section of road was known for having rock or snow slides. Rock slides in the spring and summer, and snow slides in the winter. When either of these occurred, it was not uncommon for the road to completely shut down for days and sometimes weeks at a time. But this road as well as the road between First Creek and Twenty-Five Mile Creek did make it much easier to get to town. It had not been that many years when the only way to get back and forth between Twenty Five Mile Creek and Chelan was via one of the early steam boats that operated on the lake.

Monday, November 26, 1945 – Little Bobby’s Story

The day was Monday, November 26, 1945 and the kids were heading back to school following Thanksgiving break. Little Bobby Watson arose out of bed in the dark to get ready for school. He stretches and then walks over to his bedroom window to peer outside into the darkness. With excitement in his voice he yells out “Snow! It’s snowing outside”! A burst of childhood energy came over him for this was the day that he and his friends had been waiting for. Now the fun winter activities would begin.

He quickly puts on his clothes and runs down the stairs, skipping steps all the way down to the bottom. His Mother Lu has his breakfast all ready for him and sitting on the table. Quickly he gobbles down his food in a hurry for he wanted to head up to the bus stop earlier than normal. When he is finished eating his breakfast, he runs to the hallway to put on his snow gear which had been neatly stacked in the corner of the hall closet. He first put on his heavy wool pants, then he sat himself down on the stairway landing to put on his galoshes. Next he put on his heavy wool snow coat and lastly, his hat and mittens. He was ready for snow and winter. Out the door he runs.

He runs over to Cabin #8 where Stuart and Douglas were staying. They too were ready in a flash and out the door the three boys go.

All three boys are filled with excitement as they walk up the driveway through the winter’s first accumulation of snow. The temperature is just about freezing and this is a heavy wet snow. Huge snowflakes are falling and building up on the earth’s floor. And it is perfect snow for making snowballs. As the boys walk up the driveway, they pretend that they are warriors. The boys make big snowballs and pretend that the trees are their enemies. Each of the youngsters take aim and see if they could hit the tree. “Bam! I got one” yells Stuart. “Me too” hollers brother Douglas.

They arrive up on the South Shore Road a little earlier than normal which is all part of their plan. All four boys had made vow that on the first day it snowed, they would all meet up at the bus stop ahead of schedule. Young Vernard Gilmore was walking toward them just a few yards down the country road. All is silent except for the boys’ voices and laughter. As they wait for the bus to arrive, they decide to have a contest to see who could catch the most snowflakes in their mouth. All boys like to make everything a contest. “On your mark……Get set…….Go”. All four boys tilt their heads back and open their mouths. Within a few seconds, all the boys begin laughing for it seems that the big wet heavy flakes are hitting everything except for their mouths and none of them can tell who was winning.

The boys finally hear a low muffled rumble sound coming from up lake. They stand in silence and watch as they see their school bus round the bend. It’s a little behind schedule but this is normal when its snowing on a rural country road.

As the bus approaches them, they form a single line with Douglas in front for he was the oldest of the four. The other three line up behind him. They hear the squeaking of the bus brakes as it slowly comes to a stop. The young bus driver, Mr. Randal, opens the door to the bus while the four boys march up the stairs one at a time, stomping the snow off their boots on each step.

“Good Morning Mr. Randal” Douglas says. “Good Morning Douglas” Mr. Randal replies. Each boy greets Mr. Randal as they go by and proceeds to find a seat. Mr. Randal is a new driver for the South Shore route. He is home from the war and starting a new life in Chelan with his young wife and their infant.

The bus is full with the normal students except for Joe Burnett from Twenty Five Mile Creek. For whatever reasons, Joe is not on the bus. Each of the boys took a seat, Bobby proceeds to the very back of the bus to sit. Once seated, the bus slowly pulls away from the First Creek bus stop. First Creek was the last stop for that region. There would not be any more stops for several miles down lake from the Rock Cut.

Tragedy Strikes

The snow had not let up. It continued to come down hard and the huge wet snowflakes made the driving and viability difficult, but Mr. Randal was in no hurry and he was a careful driver with all types of vehicles and weather because of his military experienced.

Driving in a snow storm like this one was slow and treacherous. Fresh snow lay over the roadway and the combination of the large wet snowflakes and moisture on the windshield made visibility for the young driver difficult.

As the 1938 Dodge bus entered the Rock Cut area of the south shore road, the driver drove with extreme caution for the Rock Cut area was dangerous to drive even during good weather and good conditions.

Mr. Randal proceeded onward. The entry to the Rock Cut was narrow and had a grade to it sloping downward as well as a bend to the right. There were cliffs on both sides of the roadway. He did not want to hit the cliff on the right that protruded outward, sometime so close that a larger vehicle could possibly hit one. Nor did he want to go off the cliff on the lake side of the road.

Carefully he proceeded into the rock cut. Not too slow but also not too fast. About half way through the Cut it was getting more difficult to see. Mr. Randal was kind of hugging the inside of the roadway when all of a sudden there was a loud “bang” sound. The kids in the bus heard it and even felt it, but nobody knew what it was. Young Bobby being in the very back seat and being so young could not see what was going on for everyone in front of him was standing up. Then some of the kids started to scream and yell.

By this time nobody could see out the front of the bus as accumulated snow had slid off the buses roof and covered the front windshield. The bus continued toward the lake. Mr. Randal turned the wheel of the bus to the right but nothing happen. He stood up and with all his might tried to turn the steering wheel but the bus continued to go straight toward the lake and the twenty foot ledge. There was nothing he could do to get the bus to turn. All of a sudden the bus came to the edge and started down the embankment. As it went over the embankment, it started to roll over onto its left side. Windows started to break on the left side of the bus while the kids inside were tossed around like clothes in a clothes dryer.

One of the student in the bus, Peggy Rice, felt some of the other students landing on top of her as the bus rolled over the bank. For a while the bus was upside down and everyone was on the ceiling of the bus. Peggy tried to help out the little kids get right side up then the bus made another roll, pitching the kids back down onto the floor and seats.

Water started to flood into the bus through the broken windows. Bobby looked down to see water above his ankles. The bus was going down. Next thing he knew he was in the water trying to climb up onto the shore. He would climb up a rock but it seemed as though every time he started to make it out of the water, he would slide back down the rock and into the lake. When he finally made it, he turned around to see the top of the bus floating. It seemed to float for a while for air was trapped inside preventing it from going down.

Meanwhile Peggy was still inside. She reached out for little Vernard Gilmore but she could not quite reach him. She grabbed another companion and escaped through one of the broken windows as the bus went under. Fortunately the air brought her up to the surface.

As Bobby watched the bus go down, he noticed a young boy had made it out but was struggling to swim. The boy was heading in the wrong direction and was never seen again. Then all of a sudden Bobby began to get sick as the shock of the experience set in. Peggy had made it to shore as had thirteen-year-old Donny Mack.

The bus narrowly missed a telephone pole as it went into the lake. Had it hit the pole, it would have stayed on the road way. On the pole was an emergency telephone, so Donny ran over to call the school and let them know what happen.

Peggy’s father and brother Alen were first to arrive on the scene of the accident. They did not see the bus but they did see Bobby sitting on the bank and Peggy on the shore below Bobby. They stopped the car and jumped out to see what was going on. They both scampered down the steep bank to help Peggy. As they were helping her up the bank, Alen noticed a body floating several feet out face down. Into the water he jumped. Mr. Rice quickly took off his boots and coat and jumped in behind Alen. They swam the lifeless body to shore. It was Mrs. Brown from Twenty Five Mile Creek. Fortunately they were able to revive her on shore. Mrs. Brown had caught a ride on the school bus that morning to keep a dentist appointment in Chelan.

By this time about ten minutes had passed since the bus had gone into the lake. Mr. Rice and his son took some who survived into town for treatment. Soon others started to show up to assist in the rescue. Since Bobby seemed OK, a South Shore neighbor offered to take him back to his First Creek home which was only about one and half miles up lake. Because of the heavy wet snow conditions, the neighbor did not want to chance driving down the Watson’s driveway and not being able to make it back out, so he let Bobby out at the top of the driveway and instructed him to go straight down to his house and to get out of his wet clothes.

Meanwhile, someone had called Bobby’s father, Harold, and told him about the accident. Harold was driving out of the driveway when he saw Bobby walking down the hill. Thinking Bobby had missed the bus and was coming back from the bus stop, Harold continued to drive up the driveway and onward to the scene of the accident without ever stopping.

Wet, cold and still in a young boy’s state of disbelief, Bobby continued walking down the hill to his home. As he approached his house, he began to wonder and his mind became a jumble of thoughts. “What just happen? Is this all a dream? Where are Douglas and Stuart and Vernard? Why didn’t they catch a ride back with me?”

As he got closer to his house, he stopped and stared at the four sleds leaning against the tree and wondered again. “Are my friends OK?” He stood looking at the four sleds in a state of numbness until his mother saw him and called him into the house.

The Aftermath

News of the accident traveled fast. Soon school personnel, county employees and parents were gathered at the scene of the accident. In the end, only six of the twenty-two on the bus would survive: Mrs. Brown and five students. Mr. Randal and fifteen of his passengers would parish and of those, only seven bodies would ever be recovered from the lake that claimed their lives. Almost an entire generation of the South Shore community would be gone.

The state’s finest divers, utilizing equipment brought in from Grand Coulee Dam and Bremerton Navel Station, spent 5 days trying to locate the bus. They finally found it 210 feet below the water’s surface. On the sixth day, the bus was strapped while still underwater, to the Howe Sound barges and towed down lake where it was finally pulled up out of the waters of Lake Chelan.

To this day, the Twenty Five Mile Creek school bus will not haul children through the Rock Cut area on a regular bases. The empty bus will travel up lake along the lake shore but on the return trip hauling children, it returns to Chelan via Navarre and Knapps Coulees. After school, it does the same only in reverse.

Bobby Watson would recover though the nights were difficult. When he would go to bed, his head would start to spin and there were times when Bobby’s parents would hear him yelling late at night in his sleep. There were other times he would be at the window of his bedroom, acting as though he was trying to get out. Fearful, Bobby’s dad Harold had to nail his windows closed.

Bobby would end up being the only survivor of this accident to remain on the South Shore. The only one who would grow up traveling through the Rock Cut to attend high school and he would remain at his grandfather’s homestead to continue on with the family business.

In a 1995 Wenatchee World article, Douglas and Stuart Hale’s mother Elizabeth stated (fifty years later) after loosing her to boys to the accident, that she made a birthday cake for her youngest who drowned nine days before his birthday. She said “I baked it up just the way he said he wanted it and I went to the lake and threw it in. And then I went home and bawled.”

For those who did not survive this tragic accident, their memory lives on. These memories live on in the hearts of family members who were born prior to and after the accident. Their memories live on when each of us drive by the scene of the accident and we remember them in our own way, and their memories live on in the form of a granite stone and bench that was donated so people could sit and remember these lives that were lost that November morning.

1945 Video from Washington State Archives