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<br />distances,
<br />
<br />Flood of 1867, A flood in May 1807 caused the mmoval of Fort Lyon to a place 17 miles farther west.
<br />The rainfall record af Fort Lyon was as follows: May:24-26, 1.80 inches; May 29, 1.00 inch; May 30, 1.15
<br />inches; a total of 3,95 inches, as compared with a normal rainfall of 2 inches for the entire month, This flood
<br />was probably caused chiefly by melting snow, as the Canon City Record of June 2, 1894, quotes historian B,F,
<br />Rockafellow, as saying that the melting of the snow at the time of the flood of 1867 caused "the streams (in the
<br />vicinity of Canon City) to become swollen into rushing torrents," The Bent County Democrat, June 15, 1921,
<br />quotes John W, Powers, county clerk, as follows:
<br />
<br />"I have heard my mother tell of the great flood of 1867, which must have surpassed the one of this
<br />month, At the time to which she referred both the Arkansas and the Purgatoire were at flood stage
<br />simultaneously, with the result that the Arkansas River in the section where Lamar now stands was a solid body
<br />of water from the sand hills on the south side to the first upland on the north side of the river,
<br />
<br />Flood of 1875, The next flood of record on the Arkansas River is that of September 16, 1875, which
<br />was caused primarily by high water in the Purgatoire River and therefore affected the Arkansas River chiefly
<br />below the Purgatoire, The Las Animas Leader, Septembm 18, 1875, reported:
<br />
<br />"At Fort Lyon (4 miles below the mouth of the F'urgatoire) the water was 4 feet higher than known
<br />before, The bottom land between the bridge and the post trader's (a distance of three-fourths of a mile) was
<br />a swift, raging flood,"
<br />
<br />The upper river was also in flood as far north as Pueblo, but as the Pueblo press gave little space to
<br />it the flood at that point was evidently not serious,
<br />
<br />Flood of 1884, Rain and runoff from meltin9 of the heavy snow cover in June 1884 caused a flood on
<br />the Arkansas River between the Grand Canyon, jllSt above the Royal Gorge, and Pueblo, The Canon City
<br />Record, June 28,1884, stated that the water was:2 feet deep on the railroad tracks in the Grand Canyon,
<br />
<br />Flood of 1886, A flood of considerable magnitude on the lower Arkansas River, probably below the
<br />mouth of Purgatoire River occurred July 20-25, 1886, This flood did not extend to the upper river, as the Pueblo
<br />gaging station showed a maximum of only 3,080 cfs on July 21, The rainfall was apparently heaviest in the
<br />vicinity of Las Animas and LaJunta, At the former place the rainfall was 3,36 inches July 24,25, and 4,66 inches
<br />for the month, or more than twice the normal. At pueblo the rainfall for July was only 0,39 inch,
<br />
<br />Flood of 1889, Rains on August 9, 1889, were followed by a flood that caused overflow from Grape
<br />Creek at least as far east as Pueblo, These rains must Ilave been of thE! cloudburst type in the Arkansas
<br />Valley, as at none of the rainfall stations was the recorded pmcipitation heavy except at Pueblo, where 1,02
<br />inchE!s of rain in 1 hour on August 9 was recorded, This intense rainfall, with a temperature of 98 degrees
<br />before the storm, indicates a cloudburst. From the account of the Grape Creek flood it appears that the flood
<br />on the Arkansas River came primarily from that source, It was evidently augmented by rain at other points,
<br />The Denver Republican states that rain began falling about 5:30 pm on August 9, and floocled the region
<br />around Pueblo, and that a "terrible and disastrous rainstorm visitnd Florence in the evening and lasted 2 hours,
<br />The Denver & Rio Grande is having lots of trouble caused by the cloudburst of Friday night. The Hardscrabble
<br />bridge washed out"
<br />
<br />Flood of 1893, In 1893, one of the driest years of mcord at Pueblo, a flood occurred on ,July 26, which
<br />reached a stage 10 feet lower than that of the flood of 1921, The river rose 8 feet in 2 hours at Pueblo, No
<br />
<br />Colorado Flood
<br />Hydrology Manual
<br />
<br />4.21
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<br />DRAFr
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