Thu Feb 27 2014 at 17:50:05
The year was 1959: Oregon celebrated its Centennial, the United States was in the midst of the Cold War, and people didn t go to Dutch Bros. or Starbucks for a Hazelnut Macchiato, they went to a café for a cup of coffee.
George Rutherford pulled into Roseburg, Oregon around 8:30 pm on a typical hot August night. It was too late to make his two deliveries outside of town. He decided to park the new 2-1/2 ton red Ford delivery truck he was driving on Pine Street, just a few feet from Gerretsen s Builder s Supply, an act which would prove disastrous for downtown Roseburg and many of its citizens. The truck contained 6.5 tons of explosives from the Pacific Powder Company of Tenino, Washington.