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<br />
<br />FLOODS IN COLORADO
<br />
<br />the water rushed along in torrents 20 or 30 feet deep. The storm continued in
<br />full violence until about 9 o'clock. The area of the storm was confined within
<br />... ... III a radius of 3 or 4 milcs.
<br />The vast quantity of water shed from the mountains gathered in the va.lley and
<br />-swept downstream in a wide torrent, covering all the low country adjacent to tl1e
<br />-creek. [Near the present town of Fountain several were drowned.] About
<br />lnidnight the people from 20 to 30 miles below Colorado City (adjacent to present
<br />city of Colorado Springs] were alarmed to find a flood of water rushing down upon
<br />them without warning. Some took refuge in the tops of their houses, others
<br />... * * fled for their lives, and [nine] were drowned * ... *. They fell into
<br />holes or ravines where the water was many feet deep. In the houses from which
<br />they fled the water was not more tha.n 2 feet deep.
<br />The crops were almost totally destroyed, and hundreds of acres were covered
<br />with "wash" 80 as to be ruined for cultivation. The Hood was followed by several
<br />heavy rains in the mountains aud the streams were high for many weeks. For a
<br />mouth or more it was impossible to ford the Fountain below Colorado City.
<br />
<br />Near its mouth nt Pueblo, Fountain Crcek washed away many
<br />cabins on its banks, but no loss of life was reportcd. No estimate of
<br />the discharge is available, but as no mention is made of damage in
<br />Colorado City above Monument Creek, it is apparent that the peak
<br />at that point was not more than 8,000 second-feet, which is the present
<br />capacity of the Fountain Creek channel through Colorado Springs
<br />above Monum~nt Creek.
<br />The storm of May 21-22, 1876, which was apparently heaviest at
<br />Denver, caused 3.19 inches precipitation on Pikes Peak and 2.62
<br />inches at Colorado Springs. It is probable, however, that this pre-
<br />cipitation was chiefly in the form of snOw and caused no serious flood.
<br />The only reference to this flood is a statement in the Colorado Springs
<br />Gazette, May 27, 1876, to the effect that Fountain Creek had risen
<br />very high, but no mention was made of overflow or resulting damage,
<br />Although the few available precipitation records for 1878 indicate
<br />no general storm, a cloudburst near Palmer Lake caused a flood in
<br />May reported by the Rocky Mountain News of May 20, 1878, as
<br />follows: .
<br />
<br />Monument and Fountain Creeks swept out bridges. El Paso County losses
<br />very heavy, caused by cloudburst in valley Dear Divide, f,jIlowcd by hail.
<br />
<br />The heavy snow cover in the spring of 1884 caused a flood on
<br />Fountain Creek; the high water at its mouth was referred to by the
<br />Pueblo Commercial Standard, June 28, 1884:
<br />
<br />The Fountain at Pueblo was wide, swift, and deep on Thursday [June 26] and
<br />swept away both the wagon bridges on Fifth Street and the Denver & Rio Grande
<br />_Railroad bridge.
<br />
<br />This was about the date of the peak flows for that year in other
<br />streams of the State, caused by heavy rains augmenting the rapid
<br />melting of the deep snoW cover. Although no mention was made of
<br />
<br />',.
<br />
<br />MAJOR FLOODS-ARKANSAS RIVER
<br />
<br />87
<br />
<br />rain in the Fountain Creek Basin, it is possible that heavy rain fell
<br />there also.
<br />
<br />A swere cloudburst in the northern part of Colorado Springs on
<br />July 25, 1885, caused a sharp flood on Monument Creek which
<br />according to the oldest inhabitant, wns the highest known there u~
<br />to that time." It was apparently of short duration and the resulting
<br />flood on Fountain Creek was soon flattened out. '
<br />The nex.t serious flood, that of May 30,1894, was caused by a general
<br />s~rm whICh resultcd in floods in t"e South Platte a.nd Arkansas
<br />River Basms. From May 21 to 27, precipitation of 2 iuchcs or more
<br />in the upper basin of Founta.in Creek had prepared the soil for rapid
<br />run-off of the intense procipitation of May 29-31 but as the heaviest
<br />precipitation was in the form of snow, the resulting flood was materi-
<br />ally ~educ.ed. The flood in the vicinity of Colorado Springs was
<br />deSCrIbed ~n th.e Denver Republican for June 1, 1894, which quotes
<br />the followmg dIspatch, dated May 31, from Colorado City:
<br />
<br />The flood has done great damage at this place. The Fountain which flows
<br />,through this town, has been very high for the past 24 hours. Early'this morning
<br />the north approach of West First Street Bridge was carried away * * *
<br />The v.:a.ter rose so, hi~h by noon that a large amount of bridge timbe; and other
<br />mater181 was carried away. 01: * 01: At 7:30 thL'l avelling a two-room h011se
<br />.. * * located at the south end of West First Street Bridge was carried away.
<br />
<br />At Manitou, Ruxton Creek was reported as being at the highest
<br />stage known. A Manitou dispatch, dated May 31 is quoted in the
<br />Rocky Mountain News of June 1, 1894: '
<br />
<br />Rain has been falling steadily all day, making a continuous fall of 50 hours an
<br />u~heard-o~ thing for Manitou. 01: * * This evening [May 31] the Ruxto~ is
<br />still a ragmg torrent, and the Fountain has been tearing away stone walls and
<br />fo~n?ations and b.ridges all day. * * 01: Canon Avenue, the road leading to
<br />WIllIams Canon, 18 a mountain torrent, down which hundreds of tons of rock
<br />have been washed.
<br />
<br />Little damage was caused in Colorado Springs, as neither Fountain
<br />Creek nor Monument Creek overflowed its banks to any considerable
<br />extent. .
<br />In the lower valley of Fountain Creek the flood did considerable
<br />damage ~o the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. It changed the creek
<br />ehannelm two plnces and in so doing washed out the railroad track.
<br />In places only the rails were left swinging across great gaps, and nenr
<br />Ed?n the double track was ant for n considerable distance. Con-
<br />dltl?nS near the mouth of Fountain Creek are reported in the Colorado
<br />Sprmgs Gazette of June 2, 1894:
<br />
<br />The Fountain has only fallen 2 feet since morning. The damage caused by
<br />
<br />U Colorado Springs Gazette, Augu;t 1,1885.
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