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62 FLOODS IN COLORADO the afternoon and evening the banks of the Cherry Creek and South Platte River were lined with men, women, and children who waited, enduring the blinding storm of snow, standing ankle-deep in mud and slush, in anticira.tion of a flood of p;rea.ter magnitude than that of 1864, both streams being but little below the high-water mark of that flood. However, no great damage was done at that time. J, E. Field, consulting engineer, who remembers the flood of 1876, stateS that the flood stage was increased by the debris from bridges that had failed lodging against the Larimer Street Bridge. Below Larimer Street there was but little overflow. The Flood Commission's statement that the high-water mark was but little below that of 1864 and that no great damage was done, appears to be explained by the situation described by Mr, Field. The flood of May 22, 1878, was evidently caused by heavy rains of cloudburst intensity covering a limited part of the drainage basin. No widespread storm occurred at that time, as records of prccipitation available for six stations in Colorado show no precipitation as great as half an inch in 24 hours except at Fort Lyon, in the Arkansas Valley. The prccipitation at Denver was only 0.12 . inch. The Cherry Creek Flood Commission" describes this flood as follows: The fourth Cherry Creek flood recorded occurred on the morning of Wednes- day, May 22, 1878. It was considered by many of the earlier residents of Denver to be as large as the flood of 1864. We are not infonned as to exactly where or how this one originated. The damage resulting therefrom was not nearly so great as that from the flood of 1864. The reason for the decreased amount of damage appeared, however, to be due, not so much to any lesser flaw of watert but rather to the facts that there were no buildings in the bed of the stream at the time of the 1878 flood: and, on the other hand, the channel of the creek was wider, deeper, Bnd clearer than was the case at the time of the 1864 flood j and, further- more, there a.ppears to ha.ve been no especial flood in the South Platte River at this time, retarding tIle flow of Cherry Creek. Albert B. Sanford, curator of the State Historical Society M use- urn, in an article in the Colorado Magazine, Jnly 1937, states that all bridges across the stream in Denver were swept away within a few minutes after the first wave descended, and that two lives were lost and grcat danmge done to property. The flood of July 26, 1885, like that of May 22, 1878, was not caused by a general storm, but by local rains over the drainage basin of Cherry Creek, as tho available records showed no heavy precipita- tion throughout Colorado The Rocky Mountain News, July 27, 1885, mentions the floods of 1864 and 1878 as the two great floods prior to that of 1885. Describ- ing the flood of 1885, it states: Shortly after 6 o'clock last evening persons crossing the Larimer Street Bridge saw a wave coming down Cherry Creek. * * *. At 6:30 the scene from II Op. cJ.1;., p. 14. r I ! MAJOR FLOODS-SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 63 Larimer Street Bridge was perfectly indescribable White-capped waves surged down in their mighty anger, threatening to engulC everything in their way, carry- ing on their surface huge timbers and debris from ill-fated bridges and buildings. '" * * At 1 :30 this morning * * * the waters of the creek had greatly fallen and the flood seemed to be rapidly subsiding. * * * George Haffer [an old-timer] said there was fully as much water as in the flood of 1864, but that WesL Denver had been filled up and built up from 4 to 7 feet, so that the water OD this occasion did not spread as much as the great flood oC 1864. The iron bridges yesrorday stood the force of the flood perfectly. When built it was supposed they would never be touched by the rising waters of a flood. but.- yesterday the waves rolled over most of them and reached all. The fact that the bridges were built after the experiences of 1864 and 1878 would indicate, as the newspaper account infers, that this flood was probably greater than any previojIs flood. 'fhe Cherry Creek Flood Commission" states: Weare not informed as to just what part of the valley was covered by this storm, or whether it was from a general storm covering the drainage Brea as a: . whole. Considerable damage was done by this flood. West Denver was flooded about as it was in the flood of July 14, 1912. Mr. C. P. Allen, engineer of the Water Company, and Mr. E. S. Nettle:ton, State Engineer, estimated the dig-- charge oC this flood at its maximum to be 20,000 second-feet, the estimate being made a.t the Curtis Street Bridge by timing floats and measuring the existing cha.mwl. All railroad bridges over Cherry Creek from Wynkoop Street to tJle [South] Pla.tte were washed away. Trains from the south loaded and unloaded their passengers at Sixth and Larimer Streets for several da.ys. , 'l'he flood of July 14, 1912, is the first ono on Cherry Creek for which detailed information is available. Soon after it occurred, the Mayor of Denver appointcd the Cherry Creek Flood Commission, which made an investigation of flood conditions and proposed a plan for relief from future floods. Much of thc information presented here is taken from the Commission's report." 'fwo lives were lost, and property both in Denvcr and in the valley above Denver was damaged to the extent of more than $1,000,000. The city engineer prepared a map showing the area floodcd in Denver. Along Cherry Croek from the city limits to a point about a mile above its mouth the flooded area covered a block and a half (900 feet) on the north bank and half s. block on the south bank. Near thc mouth the flood spread over the wide, fairly level bottom of the South Platte River, occupied chiefly by railroad yards. In all, 86 blocks in the residential district and 19 blocks in the business district worc inundated. Including the railroad yards, a total of 1.7 square milcs was flooded. The only Weather Bureau station in the Chorry Creek Basin at that time was at Denver, and its records showed that although s. violent rainstorm occurred, lasting 2 hours, during which 2.08 inch.". loOp. clt., p.14. II Report or Cherry Creek Flood Commission, Denver, 1913.