D uring the fall of 1825 Samuel Willey, Jr. of Bartlett New Hampshire moved into a
small house in the heart of Crawford Notch with his wife, five
children, and two hired men. The first year the three men enlarged and
improved the house which the family operated as an inn to accommodate
travelers through the mountains on the desolate notch road. The little cluster
of buildings was situated in the shadow of what is now called Mount Willey.
In June, following a heavy rain, the Willeys were terrified when they
witnessed a great mass of soil and vegetation, torn loose from the
mountainside across the river, slide in a path of destruction to the valley
floor. As a result, Mr. Willey built a cave-like shelter a short distance
above the house to which the family could flee if a slide threatened their
side of the valley.
During the night of August 28, 1826, after a long drought which had dried the
mountain soil to an unusual depth, came one of the most violent and
destructive rain storms ever known in the White Mountains. The Saco River rose
twenty feet overnight. Livestock was carried off, farms set afloat, and great
gorges were cut in the mountains.
An account of that night:
"August 28 started like any other summer day. It was muggy and dry. There
had been little rain over the last month, but that was about to change. By
afternoon, the sky had begun to darken into a most sinister hue. Thunder began
to clap, and lightening struck the mountaintops. This was no usual
thunderstorm - the rain began to fall in buckets, and the thunder and
lightning overlapped in multiple strikes on the peaks. The family held fast,
reading the Bible until the last moment, when they heard the deafening rumble
of the mountain coming down around them. That was probably when they fled from
the house into the ravaging storm."
Two days after the storm, anxious friends and relatives penetrated the
debris-strewn valley to learn the fate of the Willey family. They found the
house unharmed, but the surrounding fields were covered with debris. Huge
boulders, trees, and masses of soil had been swept from Mt. Willey's newly
bared slopes. The house had escaped damage because it was apparently situated
just below a boulder that divided the major slide into two streams. The split
caused the slide to pass by the house on both sides leaving it untouched.
Inside, beds appeared to have been left hurriedly, a Bible lay on the table
opened to the
eighteenth psalm, and the dog howled mournfully.
Mr. and Mrs. Willey, two children, and both hired men were found nearby,
crushed in the wreckage of the slide. The bodies were buried near the house
and later moved to Conway. Three children were never found.
The true story of the tragedy will never be known.
Poets and writers have conjectured many possibilities. Perhaps the family,
awakened by a threatening rumble, fled from the house to their cave, and were
caught in one stream of the slide. It seems more likely the Willeys started to
climb the slope of the mountain to escape the rising floods and were caught in
Whatever the circumstances of the tragedy, it has endowed this part of the
White Mountains with a legend enhanced by the awesome crags which rise
guardians over the site of the former Willey home. Following the tragedy, an
addition was built onto the house which was operated as an inn until it burned
The Willeys were buried near the Bigelow place at what is now Intervale. The
names of the missing children were carved into the headstone as well. Some
speculate that the three children might have gone mad and wandered the woods
for the rest of their lives. Others speculate the raging waters or landslide
carried them away to their death.
Visit the location of the Willey House on
Route 302 in Crawford Notch New Hampshire and climb the trail behind the house
to see the remains of the slide. Don't venture too far into the woods as an
eerie presence may overcome you hastening your return to the visitor center.
Be sure to drop by the museum at the Willey House that is filled with
history of that fateful day and other interesting stories and artifacts of the
region. Cross the road to take a five minute walk over a pond, through the woods and enjoy the views. The Willey House is considered a haunted New England location.