Boy Scouts Honored for Bravery During the 1965 Sanderson Flood

A half-century ago on June 11, 1965, an early-morning flood swept through the streets of Sanderson, carrying away houses, railroad cars and children, claiming 26 lives, destroying 75 homes and ripping up 16 miles of railroad track.

On July 4, 2015 a memorial service was held in remembrance at the Sanderson Community Center, and a plaque commemorating the brave actions of Sanderson’s Boy Scouts was affixed to the Terrell County Courthouse.

Map Above: Sanderson, Texas is between Del Rio and Van Horn on U.S. 90, that runs near the Texas-Mexico border in the Trans-Pecos region.

Called into service that day 50 years ago were young men of Boy Scout Troop 166 and Boy Scout Explorer Post 160, which were detailed in Boys Life Magazine in 1965. Scouts carried vital messages on bicycles through flooded streets, treated the wounded, and carried people from flooded homes.

The town of Sanderson looked like the Mississippi River flowed over it. Shortly after 7 a.m. on June 11 a wall of water engulfed Sanderson and did not start subsiding until around 11:00 a.m.

Danny Hodgkins was a 17-year-old high school student and an Explorer Scout when the flood hit. With the water still rising, he and a buddy quickly jumped into action.

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Above: Boy Scouts of Sanderson, circa 1965: (L-R) Danny Montalvo, Carlos Munoz, Jimmy Davis, Marvin Davis, Curtis Schroeder, Don Deaton, Condie Rogers, Danny Hodgkins - Not shown is John Stutes and Rick Marquez. (Contributed/Camp Fawcett Foundation)

“We started going door to door, screaming and hollering for people to get out,” he recalled.

When the water began receding, he and other Scouts started taking orders from Terrell County Sheriff Bill Cooksey at the courthouse, helping people get out of their homes and retrieve their belongings.

“They were completely mentally and physically exhausted, so we pitched in and helped where we could,” he said.

In the weeks that followed, Hodgkins and the other Scouts did whatever was necessary.

“We were walking Sanderson Creek, looking for bodies. We did find some. Children with their clothes completely ripped off and two other bodies from the cemetery. Not a memory I relish, but something that happened,” he said. “Unidentifiable. And once I did find them, I didn’t want to know a name,” he added.

Soon, accounts of casualties and missing persons began to mount.

“I had worked at Harvey’s Restaurant, and one of the ladies there had quite a few kids. Her family had pretty much washed away,” he recalled.

“Everyone in Sanderson knew everyone, and when you see that happen, you’re just kind of blown away,” he added.

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