Posted on Oct 29, 2022
75 years ago, a plane crash changed Oregon politics
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The unprecedented event devastated state politics and left a power vacuum.
On Oct. 28, 1947, Republican Gov. Earl Snell, the State Senate President Marshall Cornett, and Secretary of State Robert Farrell Jr. boarded a plane to southeastern Oregon for some goose hunting. It was supposed to be a quick trip to a friend’s sprawling Lake County ranch. Instead, the small, private plane crashed into a ridge. All three politicians and the pilot were killed.
Today the crash site is preserved under the National Register of Historic Places. It’s so remote that wreckage debris remains on the forest floor 75 years after the accident.
On Oct. 28, 1947, Republican Gov. Earl Snell, the State Senate President Marshall Cornett, and Secretary of State Robert Farrell Jr. boarded a plane to southeastern Oregon for some goose hunting. It was supposed to be a quick trip to a friend’s sprawling Lake County ranch. Instead, the small, private plane crashed into a ridge. All three politicians and the pilot were killed.
Today the crash site is preserved under the National Register of Historic Places. It’s so remote that wreckage debris remains on the forest floor 75 years after the accident.
75 years ago, a plane crash changed Oregon politics
Posted from opb.org
American History
Hunting
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."All three Republican politicians were popular with voters and expected to have long careers. Governor Snell had won his first term in 1942 with a record 78% of the state vote. At the time of the crash, he was just a few months into his second term as governor and planning to run for U.S. Senate. Instead, Oregon’s political future seemed uncertain, opening the door to newcomers.
After the crash, future Senator Mark Hatfield cut short his graduate education in California and returned to Oregon. He was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1950. In 1958, at the age of 36, he became the youngest governor in Oregon history."...
..."All three Republican politicians were popular with voters and expected to have long careers. Governor Snell had won his first term in 1942 with a record 78% of the state vote. At the time of the crash, he was just a few months into his second term as governor and planning to run for U.S. Senate. Instead, Oregon’s political future seemed uncertain, opening the door to newcomers.
After the crash, future Senator Mark Hatfield cut short his graduate education in California and returned to Oregon. He was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1950. In 1958, at the age of 36, he became the youngest governor in Oregon history."...
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