FLOOD07696 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

36 THE ARIUNSAS RIVER FLOOD OF ;rUNE 30-5, 1921. one of the greatest floods in the low.er Arlu\Ilsas River as occurring in 1844. Rufus Sage,12 who crossed this region in that year, records the fact that the streams ill the lower Arkansns Valley were of un- precedented size and velocity, and this caused frequent delays to his journey. At Paunee Fork his party was compelled to wait four weeks to ford the river, The foregoing evidence indicate~i that the flood of Indian legend probably occurred during 1844. ' Mr. Archie Proflitt, a r~sident of Pueblo, states that an Indian showed his uncle, who came to Pueblo in 18ti9, river silt in crevices of the tock along the mesa, 1'1('ar Cit.y Park, which the Imlian claimed was the high-water mark of an 0]([ flood. This mark was at ahout. tfle elevation of the floO!' of the "iaduct, ",hidl i:-; 12 feet ahove the flood of 1921. It may han\ been made hy tl1\' flood of Indian legend, FLOODS OF AUTHENTIC RECORDo Regular observations of the stage of Arkansas Hi,'er began in 1885, 'when a gaging station was established at Hock Canyon, 9 miles above Pueblo. This station was maintained until late in 1887. The station at Pueblo was Elstablished in the fall of 1894 and has been maintained almost continuously since that time. Hecords of floods from the settlement of the Arkansas Valley to the establishment of the gaging station on the river are found chiefly in the file;:; of the local newspapers and in the testimony of ,,,,itnesses in the Kansas- Colorado water suit befor\i the United States Supreme Court. The first flood of authentic record occurred in 1855, a fter ~t winter of very heavy snowfall, although the flood itself was probably caused by hard rain during a period of melting snow. No information re- garding the exact date and approximate height of this flood is available. ' The next flood recorded was that of June 11, 1864, caused chiefly by very heavy rains. The early settlers in Pueblo agree that this flood reached a point near Third and Santa Fe avenues. The flood of 1921 was nearly 3 ofeet deep at this point, and if, as seems prob- able, the street; has been graded down since 1864, the latest flood may have been but very little higher than that one. As Pueblo was then but a small settlement of less than 100 inhabitants, with only a few houses to obstruct the flood flow, it is probable that the same .amount OT water now would reach a considerllbly higher stage in the city, During this flood all the streams in the valley were very high and overflowed their banks for great distances, Turkey, Beaver, and Hardscrabl:ile creeks being especially high. Fountain Creek was the first to rise, and many cabins on its banks at a point back of the 12 Rocky )Iountnin nFp, HORton. 'Yf'lltwol'th, Hewes & Co., 18.j~.