Seat belt snags man, drags him under truck.

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'Last of mountain men' killed
Hayfork resident lost his life in a freak roadside accident

By Christina Lucarotti, Record Searchlight
August 3, 2004

HAYFORK -- The art of hunting was not lost on one Hayfork man who died Sunday in an automobile accident.

Larry Gene Smith, known as "Heavy," took joy in teaching his friends and family how to snare a meal the old-fashioned way.

"He was the last of the true mountain men," said his granddaughter, Krystal Eddis, 15. "He could take a bear bare-handed if he wanted to -- that's how tough he was."

Smith, 65, was killed Sunday evening while picking up discarded aluminum cans along Big Creek Road north of Harrison Road.

He was trying to retrieve a can in a ditch using an extendable grasping tool that allowed him to stay seated in his pickup, said California Highway Patrol officer Lorne Atwood.

Smith had opened the door of his truck and leaned to his left when he lost his balance and slipped under the vehicle, Atwood said.

He became entangled in his seat belt, and the truck, which was in reverse, ran over him as he hung out the door, trapping him between the vehicle and left front wheel, Atwood said.

Smith's wife, Ethel Rose, 65, was with him in the truck.

"She tried to do everything she could," Atwood said. "She tried to run for help."

The road, however, is seldom traveled and lacks cellular service.

About 40 minutes passed before Ethel came across a trucker who drove her to a house where she called for help, Atwood said. It was nearly an hour from the timeof the accident before emergency personnel arrived, the officer said.

Smith probably died almost immediately from his injuries, Atwood said.

Patrick Smith, 44, of Fortuna said his parents, married more than 40 years, took a drive almost every day, making it a point to look at apple orchards or watch birds and sometimes pick up cans.

Smith had a fondness for hummingbirds and would attract them to his porch with feeders, along with other wildlife.

Krystal said her grandma names the deer near their home, but her Grandpa Heavy would call them lunch and dinner.

"They were a pair," Krystal said.

Smith began teaching Krystal how to skin deer and bear when she was just a toddler. For her 10th birthday, he gave her a skinning knife he had made.

He taught her and her brother, Matthew Eddis, how to read animal tracks, fish and hunt.

"I witnessed him shoot a buck running at 200 yards," said Matthew, 19. "He broke his neck with a one shot."

Smith would show up for his grandchildren's softball and football games and offer words of encouragement when needed, Krystal said.

She said one of her favorite things was when her grandfather would call her and Matthew his "buddies," a name he reserved for his closest friends.