The Madison Canyon landslide, six miles below Hebgen Dam, was the most devastating result of this earthquake. Nearly half of a mountain fell to the canyon bottom, covered part of Rock Creek campground, blocked State Highway 287, and dammed the Madison River, causing Earthquake Lake to form. Twenty six people were killed by this landslide, but only seven bodies were found. The remaining 19 are presumed buried under the landslide. This photo was taken the day after the earthquake.
Thank you for that link. Looking at the photos now.
And then this one also in Zion from just a few days ago:
Pictured: The seven California hikers swept to their deaths by flash floods in Utah’s Zion...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3338396/posts
On the other side of the mountain from the slide, there is a campground where campers were killed when a rock the size of a car rolled over their tent. Upstream at Hebgen reservoir, the old lady who owned a park of fishing cabins (my dad always stayed there on his Madison fishing trips) was saved from drowning by her dog guiding her in the dark to shore. The whole side of the reservoir dropped such that the cabins' roofs were all that showed.
The actual (slip/strike) scarp above the highway was ten to twenty feet tall, some of the landslides hundreds of feet tall, and the Hebgen dam was visibly tilted to one side (which caused a wave of water to cascade downstream to where the slide was). The Madison backed up behind the slide creating "Quake Lake" which the Army COE reinforced with concrete so it didn't burst and flood the towns below, and they could drain it in an orderly fashion. My family drove back through the area once they reopened 287. Quite an experience.
The quake happened during Mission 66, which was a ten year project to upgrade park facilities at Yellowstone (and other parks). The quake was in 1959. I recall a cartoon on the editorial page following the earthquake that showed the Mission 66 sign with the bottom half torn and hanging so it read 99.
Funny. I can vividly remember everything from my childhood. Nowadays, I can't remember what I had for breakfast.