Young Powell Butte Farmer Killed While Digging a Well

Carl Chapman was the son of a Bend merchant. He had homestead near Dry River in the Powell Butte vicinity. He and George Anthony, a hired helper, had been working on the well for several days. The well was at about 30 feet in depth but had not yet reached water. Chapman and Anthony returned to the site on Aug. 11, 1905 to continue their work.

Chapman descend a ladder into the well which was about 5 feet in diameter. He was using blasting powder to blow out the rocks. He set his charge and ascended to the surface and ignited the blast. He then climbed back down the ladder intending to clear out the debris. He made a faint yell of distress and then remained silent. Anthony figured he must have been overcome by the dust and smoke in the well.

Anthony climbed down the ladder and found Chapman lying unconscious at the bottom. He lifted Chapman to his shoulder and climbed back up but when he neared the top Chapman regained consciousness and struggled pulling Anthony’s arm away. He then fell 30 feet to t he bottom of the well. Anthony once again climbed down to the bottom but could not find any life signs. He climbed out of the well and went to an irrigation canal construction site about nine miles away and got help.

Several men left immediately to go to the well site and another was sent into Bend to get Dr. Urging Coe. It took Coe a couple of hours to get to the site. The workers had managed to extract Chapman’s body from the bottom of the well. Once Dr. Coe arrived at the scene he determined that Chapman was dead and had died almost instantly from the fall as his head hit jagged rocks in the fall. The body was taken to Bend and he was interred in the Pilot Butte Cemetery.

He was only 21 years old and left a young wife with a three month old child. He had taken out a life insurance policy only 13 days before his death. Digging deep wells could be a hazardous undertaking as cave ins and falls could occur. Other deaths did occur locally from well construction.

Contributed by Steve Lent, Historian