On May 18, 1980, the world’s eyes
were fixed on the Pacific Northwest. Mount St. Helens had come alive
in what would quickly become the most destructive volcanic eruption in US history. 57 lives were lost in the disaster, and hundreds of
square miles were destroyed beyond recognition. What most people don’t know is that the
mountain’s peak was actually the property of the Burlington Northern Railroad. All they could do was sit back and watch as this
unique piece of real estate blew itself apart. To understand how they ended up in this situation,
we have to go back over a hundred years. In the mid-19th Century, the United States
government was eager to bring people from the east to settle their new territories in the west. The First Transcontinental Railroad was a
major milestone in this westward migration, but more transcontinental routes
would be built in the coming years. One of these was a northern route between
the Midwest and Seattle. Congress chartered the Northern Pacific Railroad
in 1864 to build it. But rather than funding it directly, they
awarded the company with 40 million acres of land across the west. These land plots would be sold off to help
fund the construction of the railroad. The route was completed in 1883. But by the early 20th Century, Northern Pacific
still owned many of their land plots throughout Washington State. As fate would have it, one of these just happened
to cover the peak of Mount St. Helens. The company owned thousands more acres in
the surrounding area as well. In 1928, they leased 50 acres of land along Spirit Lake
to a local man named Harry R. Truman. Truman opened the Mount St. Helens Lodge,
which he would manage for over 50 years. At the time, Mount St. Helens didn’t draw
as many tourists as its larger neighbors, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Hood. But this didn’t stop Northern Pacific from
including it in some of their advertising. They used the beauty of the Pacific Northwest
to entice tourism and sell passenger tickets. While the surrounding area was prime real
estate for the timber industry, the peak itself didn’t have much commercial value. Northern Pacific simply left the land open
for public access to the mountain. In 1970, the company was one of four railroads
that merged to form Burlington Northern. Naturally, this new railroad inherited all
of Northern Pacific’s land holdings as well. By the late 70s, Burlington Northern
considered building two geothermal energy sites at the base of the mountain. They tried to partner with Portland General Electric
on the project, but PGE wasn’t interested. As their spokesman said, “Their major holding
was on top of the mountain, and that’s not really a good spot to be
building a power plant.” They didn’t know it at the time, but the mountain
would soon prove the truth of that statement. In the months leading up to the eruption,
Harry Truman, now 83 years old, became something of a local celebrity. The feisty old man famously refused
to leave his home, vowing to stay on the mountain until the bitter end. "If I left, it'd kill me. If I left this place
and lost my home I'd die in a week." "I couldn't live. I couldn't stand it. So, I'm like that old
captain, and by God I'm going down with the ship." Tragically, the eruption caused a landslide
and pyroclastic flow of Biblical proportions. Truman and the St. Helens Lodge
were wiped out in an instant. Of course, Burlington Northern was still the
owner of the property, which was now buried under 150 feet of debris. They were also the new owner of a massive
crater where the mountain’s peak used to be. In the process of the eruption, the land had
lost more than 1,300 feet in elevation. The US Forest Service and many other groups
scrambled to figure out what to do with the surrounding landscape. Environmentalists argued that the land had
already been damaged by deforestation for years, so this was the perfect time to protect
the area from any further destruction, at least by humans. Numerous options were considered, and some
people pushed for the area to be developed into a National Park or a National Monument. On the second anniversary of the eruption,
Burlington Northern announced that it would donate 690 acres of land to the US Forest Service. This included the 650 acres on the mountain’s
peak, as well as the 50-acre land plot formerly leased to Harry Truman. Their letter to President Ronald Reagan said:
“It is our hope that this donation will encourage the careful management of the Mount
St. Helens area for the contemplation and enjoyment of future generations." A few months later, on August 26, 1982,
a hundred and ten thousand acres were officially preserved as a National Volcanic Monument. This was a major victory for preserving not
only Mount St. Helens itself, but its surrounding forestry and wildlife as well. It promised to be a burgeoning hotspot for geological
research and tourism for generations to come. Burlington Northern undoubtedly played a role
in helping the park become a reality. In addition to their donations, they provided
thousands more acres to the preserve through other land trades. Of course, the company was probably just as
happy to get rid of the most infamous piece of real estate in the country. Their VP of land management perhaps
summed it up best when he said, “How the hell do you manage an erupting volcano?”
