OREGON — On Saturday, June 28 at 10 a.m. at the Oregon Depot, the “Those Were The Days” presentation will be given by Dr. Tom Wadsworth of Dixon about the bridge collapse 152 years ago.
Tom’s great great great grandmother, Christan Goble, 51, was one of the fatalities. At the time of the collapse, she was on the bridge holding his great grandmother, three-year-old Gertie (Wadsworth) Lievan (1869-1944). Gertie was the daughter of John and Josephine (Goble) Wadsworth. Fortunately, Gertie survived, after she floated almost 1,900 feet downstream before being grabbed by the hair and pulled out near the railroad bridge. Her rescue was widely reported, even in the New York Times. The Chicago Daily Tribune said that she was “sustained by her clothing, and kept paddling with her little hands and feet until she was rescued by some boys.”
Wadsworth says “It’s not as though the bridge just collapsed and went straight down. It turns over on top of these people.” As the (Chicago) Tribune said, the truss ‘fell over with the weight and imprisoned the doomed in an iron cage with which they sunk and from which there was no escape.’”
On May 15, 11 days after the accident, the Dixon Telegraph reported that all bodies had finally been recovered. Five bodies were recovered more than 10 miles downstream, the farthest being 17-year-old Lizzie Mackey, whose body was discovered by fishermen below the dam at Sterling, 14 miles downriver.
You won’t want to miss this presentation about the "the worst road bridge disaster in American history" that happened just 15 miles from Oregon.
A Dixon native, Wadsworth, is a nationally known speaker, writer, and former Dixon pastor and radio personality who holds a PhD in New Testament. He currently writes a regular Dixon history column for Sauk Valley Media in Dixon and Sterling.
For more information about this program or other Depot topics, please contact Roger Cain 815-757-9715, Chris Martin 815-742-8471 or Otto Dick 815-440-0639.
