Harry R. Truman was an American businessman, bootlegger, and prospector. He
lived near Mount St. Helens, an active volcano in the state of Washington, and was the owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake near the base of the mountain. Truman came to fame as a folk hero in the months leading up to the volcano's 1980 eruption after refusing to leave his home despite evacuation orders. He was killed by a pyroclastic flow that overtook his lodge and buried the site under 150 ft (46 m) of volcanic debris.
Mount St. Helens and Spirit Lake before the 1980 eruption
Truman once refused service to Associate Justice William O. Douglas (pictured) at his lodge. Upon learning his identity, he chased Douglas down and convinced him to stay.
Truman's name is on a plaque (bottom right) with names of the victims of the May 18 eruption, with Mount St. Helens in the background.
Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It lies 52 miles (83 km) northeast of Portland, Oregon, and 98 miles (158 km) south of Seattle. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from that of the British diplomat Alleyne Fitzherbert, 1st Baron St Helens, a friend of explorer George Vancouver who surveyed the area in the late 18th century. The volcano is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
3,000 ft (0.9 km) high steam plume on May 19, 1982, two years after the 1980 major eruption
Mount St. Helens pictured the day before the 1980 eruption, which removed much of the northern face of the mountain, leaving a large crater
East Dome on the east flank of Mount St. Helens in 2013.
The symmetrical appearance of St. Helens prior to the 1980 eruption earned it the nickname "Mount Fuji of America". The once-familiar shape was formed out of the Kalama and Goat Rocks eruptive periods.
