Everyone knew that Mount St. Helens could erupt, but there was one man whom no one could convince to leave. Harry R. Truman was 83 years old and had been living next to the volcano in Washington state for more than half a century. There he ran the Mount St. Helens Lodge, by Spirit Lake, and shared his home with 16 cats he was not willing to abandon either.
Since March 1980, Mount St. Helens had been showing increasingly worrying signs: earthquakes, steam explosions, ash, and growing deformation on one of its flanks. Scientists and authorities warned of the danger, and the area began to be evacuated. Friends, police officers, and journalists tried to convince Harry to leave as well, but he trusted the place he had known for decades.
Most strikingly, Harry even had the opportunity to get away. On May 14, he left the area by helicopter to visit a school in Oregon, but afterward he decided to return to his lodge and his animals. Three days later, they were still trying to convince him to evacuate. He refused again.
At 8:32 in the morning on May 18, 1980, an earthquake triggered the collapse of Mount St. Helens’ north flank and a devastating eruption. The avalanche reached Spirit Lake, and the place where Harry’s house stood was buried beneath volcanic debris. He and his cats died there, and their remains were never recovered.
The eruption left 57 victims and transformed that area forever. Harry, however, became one of the most remembered faces of the tragedy. He did not stay because no one had warned him of the danger. He stayed because, at 83 years old, he could not imagine leaving behind the home, the mountain, and the animals that had been part of his life for decades.
