Harry Randall Truman - Legacy

Legacy

Truman had already emerged as a "folk hero" for his resistance to the evacuation efforts prior to his death. After his death, his friends and family, including his sister, Geraldine (Geri), reflected on his death. Geri commented, "He was a very opinionated person." Friend John Garrity added, "The mountain and the lake were his life. If he'd left and then saw what the mountain did to his lake, it would have killed him anyway. He always said he wanted to die at Spirit Lake. He went the way he wanted to go." Another friend, John Andersen, said, "Harry's name and Harry's presence will always be a part of that (Spirit Lake). There can be no finer memorial." Truman's cousin Richard Ice commented that Truman "was not only a fast talker but loud. He had an opinion on all subjects and a definite one." Ice also added that Truman's short period of life as a celebrity was "the peak of his life."

Truman was the subject of the book Truman of St. Helens: The Man and His Mountain written by his niece Shirley Rosen and was portrayed by Art Carney in the 1981 docu-drama film St. Helens. He is the subject of the song "Harry Truman" written and recorded by Irish band Headgear, which features the refrain, "You can move the mountain but I'm never coming down".

Truman Trail and Harry's Ridge in the Mount St. Helens region are named after him. He was also famous for owning 16 cats whom he referred to in almost all statements he made and regarded them as family. The cats are presumed to have died with Truman on the day of the eruption.

The 1997 film Dante's Peak, which was loosely based on the eruption of Mount St. Helens, features a character called Ruth, an elderly woman who lives in a cabin on the mountain and is reluctant to leave, also claiming "the mountain isn't going to hurt me." It is not known whether the writer of the film had Truman in mind when creating this character.