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. . snow storm, during which time 6,53 inches of precipi- tation fell. The snow and cold prevented a rapid running off of the precipitation and little damage resulted to the city, A flood, estimated by some to be as large as the flood of 1864, occurred on Wednesday, May 22, 1878. It was caused by heavy rains of cloudburst intensity covering a limited part of the drainage basin. The damage was not nearly as severe as the 1864 flood because there were no buildings in the bed of the stream and the creek channel was wider and deeper, Several bridges were destroyed with damage estimates of $30,000 to $40,000 for the entire city. Wooden bridges were washed away and were la ter replaced by steel bridges. In the meantime, in 1891, the mayor of Denver tried to secure city rights on Cherry Creek for improvements. However, it was not until 1901 that Mayor Speer suggested building walls along the creek from the city limits to the South Platte River, so as to allow for permanent improvements on thousands of acres of flood plain land, By 1908, the first ordinance for walling the creek was passed and construction began. The walls were completed in early November, 1915, at a cost of $425,000 for land and $434,000 for driveways and walls. The completed channel was 80 feet wide from Downing Street to Broadway, and 88 feet wide from Broadway to the South Platte, The creek's fall was 80 feet from Downing Street to the South Platte. occurring around Parker, All tributaries to Cherry Creek were full, The creek flooded with one large crest owing to the failure of the York Street pile bridge, It was this failure and sudden crest which caused the resultant flood damage. The creek over- flowed its banks at most places along its course. All pile bridges were destroyed. Portions of the wall along the creek crumbled, The estimated discharge at the height of the flood was 25,000 cfs. Over 86 residential blocks and 10 business blocks were inundated by the flood wa ters, . . . A major flood caused by heavy rains occurred on July 26, 1885. The estimated peak flow on Cherry Creek during the flood was 20,000 cfs. The flood destroyed many railroad bridges, but the new steel bridges survived. Reports say that white-capped waves surged down the channel carrying all sorts of debris. Damage to the city was substantial. Although the creek did not flood, there was great concern that it might in January, 1910, The channel was blocked with ice and frozen chunks of sand and snow, which built up behind the pile bridges. In places, the creek was level with the tops of the retaining walls (then partially completed). The cause of the problem was the small dams that had been built at frequent intervals along the creek bed to create waterfalls for beautification, The total damage resulting from the flood was estimated at over $1,000,000. The greatest part of this financial loss fell upon merchants and warehouse owners who had stocks of goods stored in basements of buildings near Cherry Creek. Suits were brought against the city for these damages, but a local judge ruled that the city was not responsible for the damages, . . ~ In 1890, a private company built Castle wood Dam across West Cherry Creek above Franktown, The dam measured 630 feet wide by 70 feet high. The reservoir was named Castle wood Lake, and an attempt to build a resort there failed. The dam was supposed to turn Cherry Creek Valley into the garden spot of Colorado, Arapahoe Ditch was constructed to accom- plish this goal, but the area failed to develop despite promotional schemes, Denver was flooded again by Cherry Creek on July 14, 1912. This was one of the most damaging floods in Denver's history. The afternoon of the flood 2,08 inches of rain fell in Denver. The flood was not due to local precipitation, however, but to torrential rains higher in the watershed with the heaviest rainfall Repair work after the flood involved the removal of the beautification dams and replacement of obstructing bridges with concrete ones constructed so as not to present obstructions, The mayor of Denver appointed a Cherry Creek Flood Commission to pro- pose a plan of relief from future floods, The Commission's recommendation was to construct a dam with a reservoir capacity of approximately 12,000 acre-feet. a As a result of the corrective actions on bridges J 3 "