This week in History’s Attic we will talk about how Gregory blew up their water tank (by accident of course LOL). Anyway Gregory City had 3 water tanks up on the buttes. The 2 cement ones on each peak and in the middle a steel tank. Well evidently it was time to clean and seal the middle tank, and the workers found out there was still some ice in the bottom of the steel tank. So the idea was hatched we will just put a propane weed burner in the hole and heat her up while we go. Its Saturday night late 1950s summertime, time to go to town. Our town in those days was Gregory. We lived on a farm 3 miles south of Dixon, right on the Bull Creek. Around 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon dad would come out of the fields, and drag the old, galvanized washtub on the only piece of cement we had the front walk. Chase the chickens away and coffee. And all was fine when they come back, but upon pulling the weed burner wand out of the hole they discovered it had went out!. So Easy Peasy just light it back up and shove in the hole. But unbeknownst to them when the wand went out it continued on letting propane out in to the big tank. And after there longer than usual coffee hour the big steel tank was filled like a rocket ship ready to head to the moon. There was a huge explosion and that water tank crushed like soda can twisted from each end. I went up there and there were large 1 inch rivets laying around like steel bullets, but as far as I know no one was injured. The tank stood like that till finally they got Claude Harrison to go up and cut it up in several huge pieces and send it in a unceremonious departure down the hill. Later I saw it out in a pasture used as some sort of cattle shelter.

Author Richard Papousek, May 2023