A dam break 22 miles west of Baker City in June of 1917 demolished the town of Rock Creek. No one was killed, but damage to buildings and livestock and crop losses ran into the thousands of dollars. The town never recovered.
The first inkling the residents of the tiny burg of Rock Creek, in northeast Oregon, had of impending danger on June 27, 1917, was a wall of onrushing water barreling toward town at 8:45 a.m. Trees 75 feet long were tossed end over end as the flood carried tons of debris down the canyon toward the lowlands.
Rock Creek citizens saw the water coming and moved to higher ground but the town itself was flattened, losing the pool hall, church, hotel, store, blacksmith shop and lodge hall as well as many smaller buildings. As the canyon widened and leveled out, the flood slowed and little damage resulted in the lowlands near Haines, but debris and animal carcasses were deposited up to three miles downstream.
By 2 p.m. officials investigating the cause of the flood determined that the Killimacue Lake dam had broken in the mountainous region west of Baker. The exit of the lake was dammed in 1917 to facilitate additional irrigation storage for local farmers, and the lake was full to the top of the dam. A strong western wind blew up the day of the disaster, whipping up waves and crowding the water over the dam until it breached, releasing 12 million gallons of water on the unsuspecting valley below. When the dam was inspected, it was found a section of the dam 40 feet wide and 10 feet deep had broken.
Some residents speculated that the dam had been blown up. A laborer named Gray was arrested by officials of the company owning the dam, but he provided a solid alibi and was released.
The damage inflicted on the once-bustling town of Rock Creek, the decline of the mining industry in the area and the advent of the automobile meant the residents had little incentive to rebuild. A township remains just outside of Haines, but no incorporated town exists.
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