18-05-2025
'Never lost her love for Grandpa Truman'
May 18—Harry Truman became a modern folk hero 45 years ago for his steadfast refusal to leave his lodge in the shadow of Mount St. Helens, even as experts warned that the volcano in southwestern Washington might erupt.
Reporters covering the rumbling mountain in the spring of 1980 often turned their attention to Truman, describing the 83-year-old business owner and former bootlegger as gruff, stubborn, funny and, above all, fiercely independent.
And those depictions were more or less accurate, said Dan Plute, a Clarkston Heights man who is Truman's grandson-in-law.
"A lot of people used the word crusty," Plute said last week. "Hard working, hard drinking — full bore, no matter what he was doing. There was no idle with him."
Plute was married to Judy (Burnett) Plute, who was Truman's granddaughter. Judy died of brain cancer at 75 in February 2024.
Dan Plute, 71, said his wife was quite familiar with her grandfather's cantankerous side; she and her brother, Barry, worked at Truman's Mount St. Helens Lodge when they were teenagers in the 1960s.
"My wife never lost her love for Grandpa Truman," Dan said.
She was also protective of his legacy. Judy generally kept off-color stories about Truman to herself and wouldn't tell new friends about her famous relative — it was usually Dan who brought it up.
Mount St. Helens started showing ominous signs of life in March 1980, with earthquakes and pyroclastic flows. That's when Truman started brushing off requests, followed by orders, to leave the area, and when the legend of the stubborn man of the mountain started to grow.
Depending on the day, Truman doubted an eruption would happen, and if it did, the effects wouldn't reach his lodge, which was 7 miles from the mountain and protected by snow, the tree line and Spirit Lake. He also claimed he had a mine shaft on his property he could duck into. And he occasionally seemed at peace with going out in a blaze of glory with the mountain.
"He dug himself a hole so deep he couldn't get out of it," Dan said. "He played the rugged mountain man, independent guy so hard that, even when the professionals were telling him, 'You need to get out of here now,' ... he couldn't do it. He had played that role so long, I don't think he could have backed down."
Ultimately, Truman and the mountain went out together May 18, 1980. A tremendous landslide on the north side of the mountain, followed an instant later by the eruption, sent an unbelievable amount of ash, gas and debris toward Truman's place. It's thought that he and his 16 cats died instantly.
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Truman first built his lodge in the 1920s and became a well known local character. He often hosted celebrities, including Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.
In its heyday, the lodge had a main building with hotel rooms, freestanding cabins, a restaurant/bar and a boat house. When Judy worked there, she would clean the cabins and Barry would tend to the boathouse.
Judy, whose mother was the product of Truman's first of three marriages, brought her new husband Dan to the lodge a few times in the 1970s. At that point, Truman's third wife had died and his business had become less vigorous.
The first time Dan visited the lodge, Judy's young son came with them. He had a cold, and when Truman saw the boy was ill, he told the young family to leave.
"I don't want any snot-nosed little kid getting me sick," Truman said, according to Dan.
The next time they visited, Dan spent a full day splitting firewood with Truman. When evening came, Truman swigged his signature drink — Schenley whiskey and Coke — and he tried to goad Dan into keeping up with him, which Dan didn't care for.
Dan and Judy were among the family who worried about Harry prior to the eruption, but they also realized there was no talking him down from the mountain.
After years of living and working in Seattle, Dan and Judy retired and moved to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley in 2012. Dan had spent part of his youth here and often brought Judy back for vacations in the decades before they relocated.
And no matter where they lived, Dan and Judy would reminisce about Harry every time May 18 rolled around.
"He enjoyed playing the role — for sure," Dan said. "We all build little personas for ourselves. And take nothing away from him, he was rugged and independent for sure. But once you start advertising it, it's hard to back away from it."
Baney may be contacted at mbaney@ or (208) 848-2251. Follow him on X @MattBaney_Trib.
