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<br />Facsimile a~ticle from the G~eeley Sun, Wednesday, May 31, 1876. <br /> <br />ERIE <br /> <br />UNDER <br /> <br />CoalCrc"k, says Che B<lUl_ <br />der Ne~s, commanded ~espect <br />and inspi~cd Cerrot On Mon- <br />day last, if neVer before. <br />Aboutnoon the streets of <br />E~ie began to fill ~ith wat~ <br />er, "nd before an hou~ had <br />elapsed houses were flooded, <br />and thewholl!fl;tItonwhich <br />the town is located was <br />swept by "muddy, roaring <br />flood, oV"ra quarcerofa <br />mile in width. <br />People were not deficient <br />10 bravery or Coolness. <br />MerChants, standing in the <br />rising water, piled their <br />goods high on the shelves <br />when the waves dashed again- <br />stthebuilding with a fury <br />thatmade the whole struc- <br />ture quake and tremble. <br />People wadedth'rough the <br />boiling flood with children <br />on their shoulders, when the <br />eu~~ent threatened eve~y mO- <br />ment to dash their feet f~om <br />beneath them and to hurl <br />them helpless and d~owning <br />down the roaring tide. <br />At th~ee o'clOCk p.m., the <br />flood attained its highest <br />point. Out-houses, sheds, <br />chicken-coops, etc., went <br />careenng do"", the stream. <br />Doors and windows wErl! wnn- <br />ched open in so"", of the <br />houses, and aaid(>s of <br />fu~nit"~,,, bedding, et(>., <br />washed out with resistless <br />fo~cc. J.T. Williams' d~el- <br />ling. ahout 16x26, WaS w~sn~ <br />ed irom its foundation <br />turn~d I'dl [ dfound, and <br />fOfCed neady agai.nst M.&.J. <br /> <br />-23-- <br /> <br />Flood of 1891 <br /> <br />WATER <br /> <br />The flood in the spring of 1891 was also caused by rapid Snowmelt in <br />the mountains and heavy gcner~l rains according to a report prepa~ed by the <br />Corps of Engineers in 1945. No original sourCe material conce~ning this <br />flood has been found, and no copies of the Erie Canfield Independent, <br />published during this pe~iod, are known to exist. <br /> <br />HormJn's clot.hing house. <br />The railroad g~ade above <br />town gave way, together with <br />the b~idge. The track and <br />tics were lifted and deposi- <br />ted intack about th~ee hun- <br />dred feet f~om their origi- <br />nal position, in the form of <br />an elbow. Probably seventy <br />fods of rails and ties, ex- <br />tending from the Boulder <br />Valley Coal Works across to <br />the high 13nd on the othe~ <br />si.de, were thus disposed of, <br />making a new track, with <br />scarcely a tie missing or a <br />rail b~oken. <br />In the swift current John <br />Thoroas stumbled and [ell <br />~ith a child of 11~. Robe~t <br />Summers. Rising from the <br />muddy water, Mr. T. grabb"d <br />the coat in which the child <br />had just been enveloped, but <br />she was not th"~e. IInoth,,~ <br />glance r"vealed his Charge a <br />number of feet below, <br />gasping in the boiling <br />flood. A f<,w desperate <br />plunges ~esto~ed he~ to his <br />arms, but to nound~r out of <br />the ~oa~ing clement, ,axed <br />his energiea to the utmoH. <br />He placed his better half <br />high on his should~r, did <br />Johnllincs, to.aveherlife <br />and to hep her f~om getting <br />wot; but, stepping on 3 <br />frisky oyster can, hepl\Jn- <br />ged the ~ife of hi. bosom <br />headlong into th~ seething <br />wate~~. Then, in spite of <br />dan~er, in spite ~f ~very- <br />tlting, p('opl~ smi l,.>d .,le"d. <br /> <br />i <br />i <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />, <br />, <br />i <br />I <br /> <br />Flood of June 1896 <br /> <br />This flood was ~epo~ted by the Co~ps to b<, the <br />the pa~t of the Coal C~eek valley nea~ LouIsville, <br />damages repo~ted by the Corps of Engineers fo~ this <br /> <br />highest of ~oco~d in <br />13 <br />Colo~ado . <br /> <br />flood were <br /> <br />Flood <br />14 <br />as follows' <br /> <br />Above Supedor <br />Supe~lo~ to Erie <br />InEde <br />Be10wErie <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />,"0 <br /> <br />19,760 <br />9,760 <br />5,850 <br /> <br />TOTAL <br /> <br />$36,350 <br /> <br />No issues of the Erie Independent, whiCh may have a description of this <br />event, could be found. However, an tnterview with a Mr. C.C. Montgomery <br />du,t"g tl,,-, early 1970'a rev~"l~.l .0Ille infor",..ti"" pro"ol"ly "bout tl.~ noo<1 <br />of JUM 1896: <br /> <br />Among his memories of an unusual eYent of his past waS a <br />flood du~ing the 1890'a ",hen he waS" actall boy 1 ivinf\ in <br />Erie. He and his mother had gone to Boulder in a horse ~nd <br />buggy to do some errands. It ...as a Ye~y bad flood and kept <br />him and his mether in Boulde~ fo~ about a we"k. 15 <br /> <br />13", ~" . <br />vn\t~~ ~tate Engln~er <br /> <br />Office, AppendixU, pages 28-29. <br /> <br />14.~. , <br />~. App~ndlx IV, page 24. <br /> <br />I5~ " <br />~oelOLogy <br /> <br />and Hi~tory elasaes of E~ie High School, Edition 2, page 5. <br /> <br />..24- <br />