EVERETT — On March 1, 1910, just after midnight an avalanche came barreling down Windy Mountain, above Tye Creek near Stevens Pass.
The powerful avalanche, later nicknamed the White Death, picked up two Great Northern trains waiting out a snowstorm and tossed them down a ravine, killing 96 people. Rescuers spent days trying to free survivors.
The Wellington train disaster is America’s deadliest avalanche. The little nearby town of Wellington became so linked to the disaster the town later changed its named to Tye.
To commemorate the 100th anniversary, the Everett Public Library plans to host a presentation by Gary Krist, author of “The White Cascade: the Great Northern Railway Disaster and America’s Deadliest Avalanche.”
The presentation is 2 p.m. Sunday at the library’s main auditorium, 2702 Hoyt Ave. It’s free and open to the public. Krist plans to recount the grisly and gripping saga during his talk.
Krist has written three novels. A Washington Post reviewer called his nonfiction account of the Wellington disaster an “engrossing disaster narrative.”
Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing. For more information, call 425-257-8000.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.
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