WEBVTT - When Oregon Blew Up a Beached Whale With Dynamite

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<v Speaker 1>This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,

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<v Speaker 1>and we tell stories about everything here on this show,

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<v Speaker 1>from the arts to sports, and from business to history.

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<v Speaker 1>And we've got a well of a tale to bring

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<v Speaker 1>you right now, Jesse Edwards can explain.

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<v Speaker 2>On November ninth, nineteen seventy, a forty five foot long,

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<v Speaker 2>eight ton sperm whale washed ashore on the central Oregon Coast,

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<v Speaker 2>just outside the town of Florence.

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<v Speaker 3>After all these years, it's amazing that this thing has

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<v Speaker 3>come back to life again. But every once in a

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<v Speaker 3>while it pops up.

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<v Speaker 2>It's an aroma that still lingers.

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<v Speaker 3>It was one of the worst smells I've ever encountered.

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<v Speaker 3>Words cannot describe the smell. It was in my nostrils

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<v Speaker 3>for a solid week.

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<v Speaker 2>The whale carcass remained rotting on the beach for over

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<v Speaker 2>a week. Nobody knew what to do about it. It

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<v Speaker 2>was too big to berry, stunk too much to cut

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<v Speaker 2>into smaller pieces, and burning it was out of the question.

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<v Speaker 2>At the time. Oregon beaches were under the jurisdiction of

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<v Speaker 2>the state's Highway Division, which, after consulting with the United

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<v Speaker 2>States Navy, decided to remove the whale using dynamite. George

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<v Speaker 2>Thornton was the engineer in charge of the operation.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, I'm confident that it'll work. The only thing is

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<v Speaker 4>we're not sure just exactly how much explosives it'll take

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<v Speaker 4>to disintegrate this things. So the scavenger, seagulls and crabs

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<v Speaker 4>and what knot can clean it up. Is there any

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<v Speaker 4>chance it might be more than a one day job

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<v Speaker 4>if there's any large chunks left, and we may have

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<v Speaker 4>to do some other clean up, possibly set.

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<v Speaker 2>Another Thornton was chosen to remove the whale carcass because

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<v Speaker 2>his supervisor had gone hunting that day. A charge of

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<v Speaker 2>half a ton of dynamite was selected. As words spread

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<v Speaker 2>across town, crowds began to gather.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm thinking we got big trouble here, twenty cases of dynamite.

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<v Speaker 2>Walter Umenhaffer, a military veteran with explosives training, happened to

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<v Speaker 2>be in the crowd. He warned the crew that the

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<v Speaker 2>twenty cases of dynamite was an overkill. Twenty sticks would

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<v Speaker 2>have sufficed, but his advice went unheeded.

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<v Speaker 3>This guy says, any how, I said, I'm gonna have

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<v Speaker 3>everybody up there on the top of those doings. Far away.

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<v Speaker 3>I said, yeah, and I'm going to be the furthest

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<v Speaker 3>sob down that way. They made a big spectacle of

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<v Speaker 3>waving their hats, the hard hats in the air, and

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<v Speaker 3>went clear everybody away, and all this all clear.

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<v Speaker 2>The dynamite was buried under the whale on the leeward side,

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<v Speaker 2>so that most of the mammal would be blown towards

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<v Speaker 2>the sea. The crowds of people that had come to

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<v Speaker 2>see the whale be blown to bits were pushed back

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<v Speaker 2>a quarter of a mile to safety. The dynamite was

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<v Speaker 2>detonated at three forty five pm. Up, Fred your head,

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<v Speaker 2>what you're hearing are the chunks of rotten whale blooder

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<v Speaker 2>raining down on the spectators. Walter Ummenhoffer saw it all happen.

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<v Speaker 3>And I touched that socker off and let me tell you,

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<v Speaker 3>that thing went up and it was the veigest mushroom

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<v Speaker 3>cloud you ever seen. And it was red and white

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<v Speaker 3>and black in it, with nothing but guts and bloods

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<v Speaker 3>and gunk.

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<v Speaker 2>Carried by strong coastal winds, a cloud of putrid whale

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<v Speaker 2>fluids moved inland.

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<v Speaker 3>So everybody all of a sudden start realizing that, oh

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<v Speaker 3>my god, here it comes in this mist. We were covered,

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<v Speaker 3>we were permeated with redness and the smell.

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<v Speaker 2>Those who witnessed the explosion agree that the next few

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<v Speaker 2>moments seemed to last forever. It soon became apparent what

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<v Speaker 2>should have been little pieces of whale turned out to

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<v Speaker 2>be big ones. And this stuff starts hitting the ground,

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<v Speaker 2>and all of a sudden, you realize, my god, I

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<v Speaker 2>could be killed by whale blubber here.

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<v Speaker 3>And I'm watching this one piece. There's a big piece

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<v Speaker 3>up there. It's kind of flubbering and floating around. And

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<v Speaker 3>we ran, we literally ran, and it just absolutely stopped.

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<v Speaker 1>And it came flat down a cup sh.

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<v Speaker 2>Right on top of Walter Amenhoffer's nineteen sixty nine oldsmobile.

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<v Speaker 3>It was a neat car. I just got it from Donams.

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<v Speaker 3>It was a Regency and like I say, the funny

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<v Speaker 3>thing about their slogan was a whale of a deal. Well,

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<v Speaker 3>I got a hell of a whale of a deal.

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<v Speaker 2>Within two days, the State of Oregon wrote Walter a

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<v Speaker 2>check for the full retail value of his car. The

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<v Speaker 2>blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds, yet only some

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<v Speaker 2>of the whale was disintegrated. The majority of the whale

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<v Speaker 2>carcass remained on the beach, with the Oregon Highway Division

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<v Speaker 2>to clean up due to damage that was caused to

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<v Speaker 2>local property. Whales that are found beached in Oregon are

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<v Speaker 2>now buried where they're found. And you may be wondering

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<v Speaker 2>what happened to the man who decided it was a

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<v Speaker 2>good idea to use one thousand pounds of dynamite to

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<v Speaker 2>blow up the beached whale, George Thornton, Is there.

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<v Speaker 3>Any chance it might be more than a one day.

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<v Speaker 4>If there's any large chunks left.

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<v Speaker 2>In his official report back in nineteen seventy, he declared

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<v Speaker 2>the operation a success, which helps to explain what happened

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<v Speaker 2>to his career. Just six months later, he got promoted

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<v Speaker 2>four Our American Stories.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Jesse Edwards, and great job as always to Jesse

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<v Speaker 1>Edwards who always manages to find these quirky and yet

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately American stories. And I just loved hearing the voices

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<v Speaker 1>and the sound effects. My goodness, I just keep thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about the smell the exploding well of Florence, Oregon. That

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<v Speaker 1>story here on Our American Stories lie habibe here, And

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