Living Well

Lake Chelan MIrror
“WATER WITCHING. Fifty years know how. WILL TRAVEL,” proclaimed the business cards that Homer Elgin carried in his back pocket for decades. During his witching — some call it dousing — career, Chelan’s Homer sleuthed out hundreds of water sites in the area, including the first wells for domestic water at Howard Flats. He also found water in Alaska, Mexico, and California.

Homer, a short man with bright blue eyes and an affinity for baseball caps, doused water for Larry Majchrzak in Farnham Canyon three years ago. The witcher grabbed a 12-foot pole that looked like a car antennae from the back of his truck. Then he walked around the property. Before long, the pool started quivering,” said Marjchrzak.

“The pole was waving real hard, and it looked like he was dancing with it, bouncing around. It looked almost like he had a hard time holding onto it, and for a minute, I wondered if it had got the best of him.”

After narrowing his search, Homer pulled out more tools. He traversed the property again with two metal rods and his forked willow stick. In a short time, he told Majchrzak where to dig for water, how deep to dig, and how much pressure he would find. “He was right on,” said Majchrzak.

That was one of 94-year-old Homer’s last witching jobs…

Homer suffered a stroke and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.He doesn’t remember a lot, but on the day of his interview, he was amazingly lucid. Lounging back in his recliner, he talked about growing up. To hear Homer reminisce, life picked up at age six. That’s when he witched water for the first time.

“My dad could do it,” he said, “and I used to follow him around with a stick.

“It’s the electricity in your system. The more electricity, the better. When you find the water, the stick bobs and points to the ground. It can rip the bark right off your stick. Darn right. It’s crazy, but it works.”

…According to a 1977 Lake Chelan Mirror article, Homer’s water witching skill was hard to rival. In 1952, the saddle club needed to drill a well in Union Valley. Homer doused the area, showing them where to find water. Members, however, weren’t ready to rely on his direction. They called in two experts. from Washington State University (WSU). The WSU geologists pinpointed a different spot, and the club drilled there – 110 feet, with no success.

They tried again at Homer’s location. At 92 feet, they found water.

Photo courtesy of Lake Chelan Mirror. Full version of this story published in Lake Chelan Mirror.