Photo Courtesy of the Everett Public Library Juleen Collection.An amateur photographer at the time, John Juleen took the earliest photos of the aftermath.

At the bottom of the gorge, 40 to 70 feet of snow and debris covered the trains. While further avalanches threatened, people pitched in to try to dig out survivors, only 23 in all. The bodies of 96 victims had to be roped to sleds and evacuated down a ravine renamed Dead Man's Slide. Then the bodies were lowered one at a time by rope down a cliff. The final victim was not found until July of that year when the snow melted.

The avalanche season continued, killing 58 Canadian Pacific Railroad workers at Rogers Pass in British Columbia on March 4th. A total of at least 200 people died in Pacific Northwest avalanches that winter.

Marian Flahavin wrote, I recognized so many of the emotions you go through as identical to an artist's....the agony of not knowing if it is finished, or fearing that down the road I will be horrified when I find a bad place because my eyes were tired and I missed something, or it looks different in another light or from another distance.

You are lucky to have editors who catch things and you can correct them before they are finally printed.  I can't say I ever feel confident enough to celebrate when finishing, but when a piece get accepted in a national show or some other achievement of that type I do celebrate....usually with food.  It takes days to let go and clear my head to move to another thing but I always have a to do list waiting. I try to let it sit for awhile to refresh my eyes. I do celebrate when a portrait pleases someone so much they cry. Then I know it was a hit, what I was shooting for, which is to work on it until the painting talks to me.

So interesting to here about this idea of being "finished" from an artists point of view. You can see Marian's art here...

Thanks for sharing Sandy and Marian! Always love to hear your thoughts!