DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along. Feb. 5, 1912. Van Zandt County, Texas.
And somewhere in that county, a two-year-old boy named Calvin Stepp had fallen into a water well — sixty feet deep, barely one foot across. Just sit with those numbers for a second. Sixty feet.
One foot across. A child at the bottom of that. Now, somebody had to go in after him.
And the somebody who stepped up was a sixteen-year-old named Elbert Gray. They tied a rope around him, and Elbert went down feet first into that narrow dark shaft. Sixty feet of nothing but stone and shadow and a little boy who needed him.
He reached Calvin. Got hold of him. And they started back up.
Near the top — near the very top — Calvin slipped. Fell again. Back down into that well.
Elbert Gray went back down. This time, head first. I don't know what kind of nerve that takes, descending head first into a one-foot-wide well, but Elbert had it.
And after four hours total trapped below the surface, he brought Calvin Stepp up alive. Both of them came out with only minor cuts and bruises. Newspaper accounts spread the story.
Letters of support made their way to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. And in October 1913, Elbert Gray was awarded a Carnegie Hero Medal. He'd earned it twice over, really — once going down feet first, and once going down head first.
Life kept moving, the way it does. During World War II, Elbert lost all the fingers on one hand working at a Dallas War Defense plant. The world had its own kind of cost to collect.
But here's the part I keep coming back to: Elbert and Calvin kept in touch the rest of their lives. The man who went head first into a sixty-foot well for a two-year-old stranger, and the boy who was carried out of it — they never let go of that rope between them.
What the marker says
On Feb. 5, 1912, 16-year-old Elbert Gray committed a most heroic act. Two-year-old Calvin Stepp had fallen into a water well sixty feet deep and barely one foot across. Lowered by rope, Elbert descended feet first to carry Calvin to safety, but near the top Calvin slipped and fell again. On the second try, Elbert went head first and successfully rescued Calvin after four hours trapped below the surface. Both youths had only minor cuts and bruises. Newspaper accounts and letters of support sent to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission resulted in Elbert being awarded a Carnegie Hero Medal in Oct. 1913. During World War II, Elbert lost all fingers on one hand in a Dallas War Defense plant. Elbert and Calvin kept in touch the rest of their lives. 175 Years of Texas Independence * 1836-2011