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<br />THE NIEEKER HERi\LD.
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<br />VOfJ. I-NO. 2.
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<br />rmCE, TE~ GE~TS.
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<br />!IEEKEH. OOLO.. RATlJRDA Y, ArG. 2"2, 1885.
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<br />MEEKER HERALD. i
<br />Mcck~r. Colorado. I
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<br />l'ATu.n~~Y~~~~~ ,~_._=~ I
<br />JAMES L VTTLE. Editor & Publ~~~~~ I
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<br />EDIt.red In tbe Pnstollil'C at M(~k('r. tUn Tnll.llCO I
<br />l'ouoty. CoIo" 8S second-d1Ul9 mllil matti-F.
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<br />~O~~ N_l.t!~f?~_1
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<br />181
<br />Su1lthur on a 1.e..1.r.
<br />A l1eavy body of water came down
<br />~ulplmr c~k Monday nod almost.
<br />ruined the sewer now being con-
<br />structed on Second slree-t. What to do
<br />with Sulphur crtck is becoming as dif.
<br />ficult of solution as Ute time.wofll ques-
<br />tioo. "Who struck Billy Patterson it..
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<br />00 'j'bursdav another cloudburst 0c-
<br />curred on the same creek. and It causetl
<br />the bi~~st torrent of water to pass
<br />throuRb Meeker ever witnessed. Tbe
<br />Second strt'et excavatioll wusn't large
<br />enough to carry tbe water where the
<br />town ditch Cros5e!J it, amI tbe latter in
<br />torn o"\"erflo'W"ed ib, banks l\'ilh damag-
<br />ing results to the central portion of the
<br />town. Tbe cellars and. Hrst floors of
<br />several residents on I",uk u\.enue and.
<br />neigbboring stre(llts w~re llo.>olleJ, and
<br />mUDY <<tUdens were submerged. The
<br />sewer on Second street was made U5e-
<br />It-:>... :11111 ~r')pl:Hy nWI1t'I:t at the Inw('r
<br />end Buffered considerably from the OVfir-
<br />flow.
<br />Ycstenlav aflemnon a lleav)' rain
<br />brou1!ht another installment of water.
<br />but its result '\\"38 confined to 3. sligbt
<br />bre..'\k in the town ditch in the east part
<br />. of town,
<br />l"ursuant to call n public meetioK was
<br />held at the C(lurt h(Jll!~e In.~t evening to
<br />take some actiOll relative to rewedvin~
<br />the Sulphur creek trouble. After dis.
<br />cu~ion }'fes.o;rs. J. L. McHatton W.II.
<br />Clarlr and A. Old land were appointed a
<br />eommittee to investigate and report.
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<br />. ' I . n T .-- ---- It was evident that aid was neces-
<br />THv' ~DAY, JULY 15,1937.sary in removing ch;ldren and per-
<br />. sonal property from the houses in this
<br />. part of town. The fire siren was
<br />",,,>undcd and despite the rain which
<br />, '.vas powing down in town. many vol-
<br />unteers turned. out to aid those in
<br />. distress. 'Ihe Coleman home on Mar-
<br />- ket street had at least two feet of
<br />water in the house and at the Stein-
<br />- metz home on Water street the water
<br />was even deeper. Much damage was
<br />also done to the Van Cleave Auto
<br />camp and several other houses in the
<br />neighborhood were damaged by the
<br />flood Gardens were coVered with silt
<br />tlnd debris. ruining them for this sea-
<br />son.
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<br />THE MEEKER HERALD
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<br />JAMES LYTTLE:. EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR
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<br />Cloudburst Starts
<br />Sulphur Creek
<br />On Rampage
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<br />lSATuR.nAY, JULY 13, I'l~
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<br />Heavy RaiDS
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<br />Beginning with last Friday, Meek-
<br />I er and this part of White river vaney
<br />was visited with some of the hea~i~
<br />e8t raills known t.o the history of the
<br />community.
<br />"he bi~ rain occurred TUf'sday ev-
<br />ening.. In the hills bact of towII and
<br />in the Sulphur crepk basin, it poured
<br />I down as' though a clond' had bursL
<br />A raKing torrent came down Sul~
<br />. phur creek. lasting from about 7 to 8
<br />o'clock. The deep, ravine-like creek,
<br />sudden I.'. rose till it flowed over its
<br />banks in the SlWderson Oeld. and in
<br />! t,urn, the Smith ditch was fllled to
<br />I overflowing in many places.
<br />I Reaching tile low flat. near the
<br />J river, in the,ootheuh>-rn end of town,
<br />I~ Sulphur spread out aud filled cellars
<br />and tint ftoon of all hOUS8l1 in that
<br />t 9f'ction of tuwn. Fences were torn
<br />down and gardens detortored, and
<br />i many people lost nearly all their
<br />! chickens.
<br />I The main part of town was ftooded
<br />I by the overflow uf the Smith ditch.
<br />The Meeker-Craig bridge at the
<br />l8anderSOn ranch wu carried awa)' i
<br />also the bridge and water main at tbe
<br />I Henry eorner of atarket and Second
<br />.tree"".
<br />; Sidewalk: were carried aWA)' all
<br />{over town, amI. considp.rable damage
<br />. done.
<br />All told it was the worst storm ill
<br />the history of )feeker.
<br />1'he danage in town was principal-.
<br />! ly due to the fact that the town gov~:
<br />I erument. of recent )-'eal"8, has allowed
<br />. praeticall,.. all cuh'erts., running in
<br />. the direction of the river to be filled
<br />up; lumce th(>re was no way for thfl
<br />water to l't;Cap,:-" othpr than to flf)tJd
<br />t:t>lIars aud tinit fluorH of residellc6s.
<br />and-in BOllle installCt's, bnsin~ss
<br />I hOU8b8.
<br />i This thing iilwuld be remedit.>d be.
<br />t fore allother such titorm breakti on
<br />tht': tOwn,
<br />On \Vedne&das eveninjl. another
<br />t big raiul!itorm struck to...n, hut did
<br />, not du II1I1("h da m...:;'!.
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<br />Southeastern ".rt of Towu n~
<br />F'U'e Alann Sounded to Summon
<br />Aid for 'l'bose in Flood A_
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<br />The old axiom, "it De\.'"er rains. but
<br />what - it ~'6\1rs." (.....rtainly has proven
<br />true the past week in an area com-
<br />prising Dil"arly every part of Western
<br />ColoradO, Anyone living in this area
<br />would willingly agr<!t." that Old Pluv-
<br />lu5 certainly has broken the drought
<br />and is doing the job in a big WIlly.
<br />Hardly a spot in all Western Colo-
<br />rado but what has had just plenty of
<br />moisture during the past week-in
<br />many paris the rain has incre&ril!d to
<br />cloudburst proportions and consider-
<br />able damage bas resulted. Meeker . bad
<br />the first taste of cloudburst conditions
<br />since 1918 when Sulphur Creek again
<br />went on one of its periodical ram-
<br />pages.. Nenrly twt:nty years ago a
<br />cloudburst struck the upper regions of
<br />this a-eek which runs thru the east
<br />part of Meeker and -=overed most of
<br />the town with water ranging from. a
<br />f~w inches to sevenl feet.
<br />Friday aftern<lOn of last week _
<br />a repitition of the flood of 1918. how-
<br />ever it did not cover as much area of
<br />the town but the part it did cover WBS
<br />well watered. The cloudburst struck
<br />some lhrt.'e or four miles up the creek
<br />from town in the lK"ighborlu:KKl of the
<br />G~~fi and Sexson ranches. doing some
<br />damage to these two places. As the
<br />wail of water approached town it car-
<br />ried with it much trash and brush
<br />which had accumulated in its channel
<br />for lhc~ past sev~ral years. Whrn
<br />this debris bt..-.gan to lodge on the Main
<br />street and Market stftet bridges it
<br />backed up the waler until it was over
<br />th(: <-'han::el b&nks and pouring a
<br />strrarl" of ',"aier two to three feet m>ep
<br />ove-r the Lotthn1S in the oouUleClSlf:rn
<br />llilrt of town,
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<br />-Thursday, August 8, 1957
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<br />The wooden bridge on Main street
<br />was undermined and has been closed
<br />to tra..'5.c and will have to be ~built
<br />if put into use. 'l'be highway bridge
<br />was not damaged b'.1t would have been
<br />had the 'storm l:--;Sted a few hours
<br />mOTe, Again Sunday quite a wall of
<br />water came down Sulphur creek but
<br />the channel was clear and no damage
<br />resulted.
<br />Cloudbursts were common over the
<br />entire county. Much damage has been
<br />done to the roads and crops on Pice-
<br />ance; several heavy floods coming
<br />down from the Gerald Oldland ranch
<br />east to the John Robinson place, Most
<br />01 the ranchers have been fOrced to
<br />come around by way of White River
<br />C;ty to get to Meeker. Strawberry
<br />creek repJrts the loss of. a bridge or
<br />two as several water spouts have
<br />come down, 'l11is is also true on the
<br />Meeker-Buford road: the worst place
<br />being between Elk <reek and Big
<br />Beaver. On the railroad to the south
<br />the trains have been running hit and
<br />miss between the storms-Qne day the
<br />tracks have been out and the next
<br />day repaired to let traffic thro. The
<br />worst stonns have been from Rifle to
<br />Grand Valley.
<br />While the rains have done consid-
<br />erable damage to roads and to hay
<br />that has been cut for .over a week.
<br />they have done far more good than
<br />hann, The rain is ge-neral and the dry
<br />land pastures are going to be the best
<br />in year.;. It will also help insure a
<br />good St"nmd cutting of ha~~ on ~ dry
<br />lklld rancht..s... The wial~r rangp~ in
<br />the westt-m part of the courity will be
<br />nlUch better than in the past five
<br />ye;,rs.
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<br />This year's weather continups to
<br />'be unusual - unusually wet. The
<br />past week we have had several
<br />heavy rain ~torms in Meeker with
<br />over an inch and a half of mois-
<br />ture. Cloudbursts were reported
<br />down the river where -considerable
<br />,damage was done 'to hay and gr.<Jn
<br />crops. Sunday evening we had a
<br />'~\-"ere electrical stann v.rith one bolt
<br />of lightning striking in or near
<br />i town. It was so near it shook our
<br />I house and sparks flew from elec-
<br />trical appliances.. Others in town
<br />reported the same effect. Then last
<br />night it rained most of the night
<br />,.;th heavy thunder and Hghtning.
<br />The temperature for the week
<br />reached a new high for the sum-
<br />. mer with. thermometers registering
<br />91. The low was 44. The moisture
<br />is good for the range country but
<br />is being detrimental to the harvest-
<br />ing of hay and grain crops.
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