During the early hours of the morning on March 1 , 1910, the deadliest avalanche disaster in history occurred in Wellington, Washington. For reasons unknown to me, this tragedy has captured my interest. As a researcher, I know better than to use only one source; however, I am going to do just that to present the facts of this event. Most, if not all, of the facts presented below about that night come from the book The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest Avalanche by Gary Krist. (I’ll post the Amazon link at the end.) I feel it is a well written account and I highly recommend checking it out for a more in depth timeline. He thoroughly researched the events of this disaster and presents an in-depth background of all the factors that were in play leading up to, during, and after the avalanche.
Located near the top of Stevens Pass in the Cascade Mountains of Washington at the western portal of the Cascade Tunnel, Wellington in 1910 was not more than a railway depot for the railway employees servicing the trains coming through the tunnel. The winter of 1910 in the Cascade Mountains was an unusual one, and this region of the Cascades was already well known to be avalanche prone. The events leading up to the tragedy began on February 21, when a weather system moved into the area bringing what would eventually be determined to be a series of blizzards. Upon receiving news of the impeding snow storm, the superintendent of the Great Northern Railway’s Cascade Division, James O’Neill, headed to Wellington to help ensure the trains could make it through the pass.
While preparations for the storm were being made on the west side of the pass, two trains were making their way toward Wellington from the east. On February 22, Train 25, the Seattle Express, left Spokane on its way west. Already on its way westward from St. Paul, Minnesota, Train 27, the Fast Mail, was not too far behind. As these trains were making their way to Leavenworth, it became apparent the snow was going to be a problem, and the superintendent was down to one rotary snowplow for two high priority trains. James O’Neill had some decisions to make regarding these trains: hold the Seattle Express in Leavenworth to send both up with the rotary, send the Seattle Express up with the rotary and hope the Fast Mail wasn’t too far behind, or try to get them through on an affiliate line. He chose to the send the Seattle Express up alone with the rotary.
Both trains arrived at Cascade Tunnel Station at the eastern portal of the Cascade Tunnel on February 23, where they were stopped for what was hoped to be only a temporary delay due to the line being blocked ahead. The weather had other ideas as the snow continued to fall and slide onto the tracks faster than could be cleared. It wouldn’t be until the evening February 24 that the trains would be able to pass through the tunnel to Wellington where they would remain.
The fear of an avalanche was a constant concern among the passengers of the Seattle Express. The frequent slides blocking the tracks were a main reason the trains were stuck in Wellington. Magnifying the fears was the news on February 25 of an avalanche at Cascade Tunnel Station in the very location the trains had occupied only a few hours earlier. It was the belief of many at the time that avalanches couldn’t occur from the open slope of the mountain, so placing the trains on the passing tracks at the base of Windy Mountain was thought to be the safest location. However, that belief didn’t calm the fears of the passengers who frequently requested to have the trains moved to the tunnel. It was to no avail as the trains remained on the passing tracks until the avalanche moved them down to the Tye River.
James O’Neill and his crew worked continuously in an attempt to bring those trains safely down out of the mountains. Every time they thought they’d made progress, either the weather or equipment failures or both set them back. However, they never stopped trying.
By February 28, the mountains surrounding Wellington had become so covered in snow that frequent, distant avalanches could be heard by all at Wellington. At some point leading up to the avalanche on March 1, the weather warmed a bit and the snow turned to rain and a rare mountain winter thunderstorm. Some believe it was thunder and/or lightning from this storm that triggered the avalanche. Experts disagree that this is even possible. Regardless, at 1:42 am on the morning of March 1, something triggered the entire slab of snow on the west side of Windy Mountain to start sliding downwards toward the trains stopped directly below. Asleep inside the two trains were 125 passengers, mail employees, and railway workers. The official death toll compiled by the Great Northern Railway was 96.
Today, very little of Wellington remains. Shortly after the avalanche, the town was renamed to Tye to dissociate it from the disaster. On January 29, 1929, a new Cascade Tunnel was opened at a new location less prone to avalanches, and the town of Wellington was dismantled and abandoned. Recently, the old tracks have been repurposed into the Iron Goat Trail (https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/wellington-ghost-town), where the old snow sheds that were built in response to the avalanche can still be seen.
Like most things these days, I first learned about Wellington through Facebook, and I immediately wanted to visit. However, Ladybug and Bumblebee were babies, so I figured it was going to have to wait. The universe works in mysterious ways, though. While on a drive trying to get Bumblebee to take a nap, my companion and I stumbled upon the Iron Goat Trail. Since Bumblebee was still not sleeping (I can’t remember if they ever did take a nap that day), we decided to take a short hike. After further research on my part, we returned a year later to the actual location of the town of Wellington. I didn’t get to explore as much as I wanted because Ladybug and Bumblebee were too young for a longer hike, but it was pretty surreal standing where these trains had once stood all those years ago.
The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest Avalanche can be purchased through Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/White-Cascade-Northern-Deadliest-Avalanche/dp/0805083294/ref=sr_1_1?crid=O59VPMB1YDWU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.icjLB306eT0eYF0Cm251PCdL_MAViY5s1RDaV7xaaP2YHjGwcAElT5uyvN__y4NL0uN0jlDmRlMH8xctgP-qwI_RHkDKDjosWPqFFQIP_OvI1zkTHGrB0iCtS2nUQxUb_3osY3ufsOtVLmcsn59YfhXygcLKajY07ZbUDRT9Q52GP3dSY0wxfsoAeLeR7MaajyjMoZ4jveX1rY5FuwL1UFIWNe7zQZaWCLeko_op2RQ.ciy1T0-dckCGjRpu7jO8Z7o7v_BdO15BED_0pnJj4Iw&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+white+cascade&qid=1708885667&sprefix=the+white+cascd%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-1
