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<br />50
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<br />FLOODS IN COLORADO
<br />
<br />June 7-10, 1923, heavy rains occurrcd June 14-16 ovcr an area ex-
<br />tending from a point a few miles east of Greeley to the western edge
<br />of R. 70 W. in the foothills rcgion, and appeared to center over the
<br />lower part of Buckhorn Creek Basin. The resulting flood, the high-
<br />est known on Buckhorn Creek and several of its tributaries, was
<br />investigated within a few days by the Geological Survey, and the
<br />. ,( results were published." The area affected extended from the mouth
<br />V' of Buckhorn Creek to a point 5 milcs above Masonville and a short
<br />distance above the mouth of Missouri Canyon. A 30-minute rainfall
<br />of 2~ inches was mcasured in a tub.
<br />The following table shows the peak discharge at the three points
<br />measured:
<br />
<br />Peak discharge in Buckhorn Creek Basin, June 15, 19~3
<br />
<br /> Drainage area Peak discharge
<br /> (SQuaN.lIlliles)
<br /> Second- 'l'imeof
<br />s"",,no Location Area. root per flool1
<br /> Total pro- Second- square crest
<br /> dncing feet mUcor
<br /> .ood Bl'CaM-
<br /> rected
<br /> -
<br />Duckhorn Creek____ Haifa mllesoutb or M8soDvllle._. 1M 40 10,500 262 tOp.tn.
<br />Redstone Creek.un MasonvillIL________.._. ...._______ 31 21 6,820 325 lOp. Ill.
<br />Missouri Canyon.._ NlW' mouth, sec. 26, T. 6 N., R. 2.' 2.' 4.,350 1,810 6::lUp. Ill.
<br /> 70W.
<br />
<br />A peak discharge of almost equal amount occurred on Buckhorn
<br />Creek following the storm of September I, 1938, in the foothills arca.
<br />o The area of precipitation did not extend more than 2 miles above
<br />Masonville on the main stream, but in the tributary basin of Red-
<br />stone Creek, the storm extended practically to the head of the basiu"
<br />A slope-area measurement of the flood on Redstone Creek, which
<br />occurred at 10 p. m. Scptember 1, was made a quarter of a mile above
<br />its mouth, and the peak discharge was determined at 8,400 sccond-
<br />feet, or 271 second-feet per square mile from a drainage area of 31
<br />square miles, The peal< discharge of Buckhorn Creek at a point 2~
<br />miles below :tI1asonville was 10,200 second-feet, or 196 second-feet per
<br />square mile from the 52 square miles affected by the storm. The
<br />greater part of this flow was absorbed by Buckhorn l\eservoir, which
<br />is located a mile below the point of measurement, and has a capacity
<br />of 650 acre-feet.
<br />During the storm of September 10, 1938, a cloudburst centered over
<br />?./ Missouri Canyon. A rancher living in sec. 23, T. 6 N., R. 70 W.,
<br />1~ miles above the mouth of Missouri Canyon, measured in a straight-
<br />sided can a rainfall of about 5 inches, which occurred between 6 and
<br />
<br />II Follansbee, Robert, and Hodges. P. v" Borne floods In the Rocky Mountain region; U. 8. Geol. Sur-
<br />
<br />T
<br />
<br />MAJOR FLOOnS--SOUTH PLATTE RIVER
<br />
<br />51
<br />
<br />7 p. m., September 10, most of it within 20 minutes. Another rancher
<br />who lives 1 mile above the mouth of Missouri Canyon measured in a
<br />straight-sided can about 7 inchcs of rain which fell within half an hour.
<br />Half a mile south, a rainfall of 2~ inches was reported. A slope-area
<br />measurement of the flow of Missouri Canyon in sec. 26, T. 6 N., l\.
<br />70 W., showed a peak discharge of 2,130 second-feet from a drainage
<br />area of 2.37 square miles, or 899 second-feet per square mile.
<br />
<br />CACHE LA PQUDRE RIVER
<br />
<br />Above B?llvue the Cache la Poudre l\iver drains the Front Range,
<br />and for a dIStance of 13 miles above the gaging station at the mouth
<br />of the canyon the fall is 63 feet per mile. Across the plains from the
<br />mouth of the canyon to the mouth of the river, a distance of 41 miles,
<br />the fnll is 16 feet per mile.
<br />
<br />Gaging stations in Cache la Poudre River Basin
<br />
<br />Station
<br />
<br />nraina.~p. area
<br />(squaromilcs)
<br />
<br />Pcriodofrooord
<br />
<br />North Jo'ork Cache In Poudre River at .
<br />Y.lvermorc.
<br />. Cnchc In }'ol1drc River at mouth of canyon
<br />near Fort Collins. '
<br />Cache la Poudre River neDr OreeleYuhu.H
<br />
<br />May ID29 to Beptemoor 1931.
<br />March 1884 to date (carller years fmgmen.
<br />tary).
<br />March 1903 to November 1004; February 191.
<br />to DCtxlUlOOr 1919; May 1924 to date.
<br />
<br />Ml
<br />1....
<br />1,840
<br />
<br />In connection with meager evidence of a widespread flood in 1844,
<br />Watrous" quotes a letter from Antoine Janis, a French trapper who
<br />was living on the river near the present town of Laporte: .
<br />
<br />On the first of June, 1844, I stuck my stake on a claim in the valley. * * *
<br />At that time the streams were all very high and the Valley black with buffalo.
<br />
<br />In the same volume Watrous refers to a flood in 1864:
<br />
<br />Fort Collins} the county Beat and principal town in Larimer County, owes its
<br />origin and first place on the map to the intervention of a flood in the Cache 1&
<br />Poudre River. This flood occurecl on the last days of May and first davs of June
<br />1864 and is said to have been the worst known by white men. The water poured
<br />out of the banks of the stream and inundated the valley from bluff to bluff with
<br />a torrent, that carried everything not firmly attached to the soil with it.
<br />It carried O\lt the toll bridge at Laporte at a time when the movement of emi-
<br />gration westward was the heaviest, and more than 200 emigrants were stalled on
<br />the bluffs south of Laporte} being unable to ford the stream because of high
<br />water. * * *
<br />In the spring of 1864, under the influence of the sun's warm rays, the great
<br />masses of snow melted on the hillsides and torrents of water came pouring down
<br />fr?m ~hc slopes into the channel of the Cache 18 Poudre, swelling the stream even
<br />With Ita banks. On the 9th of June, an extraordinary rainstorm set in on the
<br />watershed of the upper part of the river, melted the Bnow in the higher altitudes 1/
<br />
<br />" Watrous, Ansel} History of Larimer County: Conner Printing & PUblishing Co. Fort Colllas Cot...
<br />1911. .' .
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