Bill Estelle's story

Bill Estelle, just 10 years old that March of 1964, reports that he may have been watching Fireball XL5 on the television, but was probably reading a Hardy Boys novel when the quake hit his family home north of Bailey Hill. Along with his mom, older brother, and younger sister, Estelle felt the strong movement of the quake. “It would just shake and shake and shake some more,” Estelle said. “My brother caught the TV from nearly falling to the floor. My sister held onto our Easter Egg Tree as it swayed back and forth.”

As the quake continued, Estelle’s sister began to cry, so his mother suggested they go outside. They watched as their car acted as if it was in neutral and rolled back and forth. “It was like being out on the ocean,” observed Estelle, “with low, long waves. It looked like there was a wind blowing, but there was no wind.”

Across the nearby pasture Estelle saw “the cows run head long, as fast as they could, until a wave came along and tipped them over. Then they would spring up and run like mad in the other direction until they fell again. It was kind of hoot,” he admitted, laughing. “They were so spooked and it hit them like a shock wave. It sort of reminded me of that guy on the trike on the television show “Laugh In.”

Later that evening, his brother Jim, came home. He saw the lights from Leonard Moffitt’s farm across the way. “They must have had a generator. My brother went over to help him out because he knew that all those cows would need to be milked by hand. He spent the night there.”

Estelle’s older sister arrived home from her shift at Dr. McCavitt’s office (where Turkey Red is today). She reportedly stepped out of the office and watched as the Palmer water tower swayed back and forth, with water splashing out one side and then the other

“We slept in our clothes that night,” admits Estelle, “with our shoes widely laced by our beds in case we needed to jump up.” Back then we were ready,” he continued. “We kept water in glass jugs stored under the stairwell. We could (manually) start a fire in our furnace. We had extra batteries and a Coleman lantern and cook stove.”

Towards the end of the interview Estelle recollected “We were watching the earth move and I just wondered, was it ever going to stop?”

Richard Estelle

(as told to Jenny Weaver)

Richards Estelle, now President of the Palmer Historical Society, and older brother of Bill, attended Oregon State College when he heard the quake news. He learned that Alaska was devastated; Anchorage, Valdez, and Seward in ruins. He tried to call home but was unable to get through. Estelle searched out the seismology department on campus. There he saw a large drum with graph paper. The needle had scribbled ink back and forth wildly across the paper. And then it had stopped, the needle completely off the graph.