Laserfiche WebLink
<br />'j.' <br />< <br />." <br /> <br />!l <br /> <br />-2- <br /> <br />~., <br />tv <br />~, <br />I <br /> <br />Until the early 1920' s following World War I, the channel of Kiowa <br />Creek was narrow (from six to 12 feet wide) and meandered almost aimlessly <br />through the meadows. Occasional floods, which were almost clear water, <br />would cover the meadows with very little damage except when hay was down. <br />In the early 1920's, gullies through the meadows began to appear and every <br />year they would lengthen and widen in spite of the strenuous efforts of <br />trying to hold them with trees and rocks. Scouring of the creek itself <br />began to widen and deepen the channel. <br /> <br />Then, following a series of drought years, came the disastrous <br />flood of Memorial Day, 1935. According to reliable reports, the major part <br />of this cloudburst occurred south of the Town of Elbert on Kiowa Creek. In <br />excess of 20 inches of rain and hail fell during the day, causing a flood <br />which claimed seven lives in Elbert County and at least four lives in other <br />counties, besides thousands of dollars of damage to property and livestock. <br /> <br />Paul S. Bailey, bridge engineer of the Colorado State Highway <br />Commission, has reported that as a result of the 1935 flood in the Kiowa <br />Creek area, the State Highway Commission replaced six destroyed bridges <br />and made repairs on one other damaged briage, at a cost of slightly more <br />than a half-million dollars ($503,079.00). <br /> <br />.... <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Mr. Bailey has explained that construction costs quoted are those <br />of 1935, and that similar work at the present time would average three <br />times greater. The work that cost $503,079.00 in 1935 would approximate <br />a million and a half dollars in 1949. <br /> <br />r <br /> <br />Further, in the 1935 flood, every county bridge on Kiowa Creek and <br />on many of its tributaries from the very headwaters in El Paso County to <br />the South Platte River was washed out. At least 30 homes and business <br />houses in Kiowa and Elbert were swept away, and many more damaged. <br /> <br />William Giggal, Arapahoe County Commissioner, reported that in ex- <br />cess of $150,000 damage occurred to roads and bridges in his County, and <br />he had a crew of 100 men at work for five weeys burying the drowned cattle. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />'!he school building at Elbert, almost a new building, was com- <br />pletely destroyed. Except for the fact that it was a Memorial Day holiday, <br />over 100 school children might have been trapped in the structure. This <br />building was replaced by the Works Project Administration, with some local <br />help, at a cost of about ;;p50,00o. <br /> <br />Water and mud stood six feet deep in the Elbert County courthouse <br />at Kiowa, ruining many vital records. The City of Fort Morgan with a popu- <br />lation now of 4,880 was inundated, as was also the Town of Wiggin. <br /> <br />The Colorado & Southern Railroad which operated through Parker, <br />Elizabeth and Elbert suffered such heavy losses that it suspended opera- <br />tions with a resultant loss of service and valuation to Elbert County. <br /> <br />L <br /> <br />