June is almost here. It is my favorite month, but it seems like it is also the one of the worst months for disasters. Several of the disasters that I wrote about in my first book, Montana Disasters: Fires, floods and other Catastrophes, happened in June. On the evening of June 18th and the early morning of June 19th, 1938, a flash flood in Eastern Montana caused a horrific disaster for the passengers aboard the Chicago, Saint Paul and Milwaukee Railroad’s Olympian Train number 15. Custer Creek, which was usually hardly more than a trickle was much fuller than usual but didn’t pose a threat for the trestle that was built to withstand the pressures of heavy spring run-off. A deluge that dropped several inches of rain in a short time upstream from the bridge sent a twenty foot wall of water that weakened the structure. As the locomotive passed over the bridge, the middle support gave way and many of the passenger cars were washed into the raging creek. The heroic efforts of the passengers and railroad employees, along with tales of tragedy and survival make this one of the most compelling chapters in my book.
Other June disasters included in the book are the Speculator-Granite Mine Disaster in Butte, the Blackfeet Flood of 1964, and the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Montana Disasters: Fires, Floods and Other Catastrophes is available at Amazon.com and at many locations around the state. It can also be checked out at almost any library in Montana
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