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Article Title: High Water: Flooding in the Elkhorn Basin 1823-1940

Full Citation: Todd M Kerstetter, "High Water: Flooding in the Elkhorn Basin," Nebraska History 76 (1995): 176- 187.

URL of article: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1995Elkhorn_Water.pdf

Date: 4/2/2013

Article Summary: This article explores the floods in the Elkhorn River Basin from an early report of 1823 through 1940, including the various efforts of residents to deal with the flooding effects. Within the text of the article is a chart record of the number of major and minor floods by stream and county, as well as a chart by date of the various floods with comments.

Cataloging Information:

Names: Paul Wilhelm, C A Davis

Nebraska Place Names: Elkhorn River Basin, Elkhorn, Waterloo, Fremont, Neligh, Hooper, Clearwater, North Fork, West Point, Gretna, Stanton, Pierce, Beemer, O'Neill, Tilden, Pilger, Winslow, Nickerson, Beemer

Keywords: West Point Republican; Fremont Herald; Journal [Norfolk]; Western Sarpy County Drainage District; Norfolk Daily News; Norfolk Sanitary District; Works Progress Administration; Red Cross; U S Department of Agriculture; Army Corps of Engineers

Photographs / Images: Map of the Elkhorn River Basin; Ox team on flooded Norfolk street, about 1870-1880; Flooded homes on the outskirts of Norfolk; Norfolk blooded business and residential districts; rowboat on Norfolk's flooded streets; Floods in the Elkhorn Basin by stream (chart); Flooded rural road near Beemer; Flooding in Beemer about 1917; Floods, Droughts and River Modifications in the Elkhorn Basin to 1944 by date (chart); washed out approach to the Elkhorn Bridge at Tilden, 1920; Constructing a dike at the Pierce Dam; West Point, Nebraska flooding Flooding in the Ellmorn Basin 1823-1940

By Todd M Kerstetter

For thousands of years Nebraska's fertile river valleys have drawn human inhabit­ - - 1'-'-'-' i ~/" BOYD ants. And for as long as people have ./,-..;.~'/' ----.....-.....--...... lived near rive rs , they have contended r-/ I with flooding. As recently as 1993, I spring fl oods damaged more than $16 i million worth of Nebraska property. For \ several days a swollen , gorged in part by an overflowing Elkhorn, threatened to cut off the city of Lincoln's water supply. I That incident dramatized flooding's implications but only as a variation on a familiar theme. Ever since Euro-Americans settled per­ manently in the Elkhorn basin they have .L::::::.. used a variety of strategies, first defen­ NORTH sive, then offensive, and subsequently a combination of both, to control the river and protect their property. However, none of these strategies has succeeded. Although little is known about how the Elkhorn basin's earliest residents dealt with floods, historical records indi­ The Elkhorn River Basin. cate some degree of flooding occurs in the basin practically every year. Figure 1 That trip took him overland through the lightning. Runoff had transformed the lists floods recorded since official mea­ Elkhorn Valley, where he experienced Elkhorn into a "torrent," which had surements have been kept. Figure 2 lists an impressive rain storm and flood. On flooded Indian earthlodges abandoned floods deemed noteworthy by the August 12, after covering about thirty for the summer. The duke learned, to basin's newspapers and by the U.S. miles in sweltering 102-degree heat, the his surprise, that crops growing in the In­ Army Corps of Engineers. It also in­ duke's entourage camped near the dians' fields survived the storm. Al­ cludes other water-related events. Elkhorn. A "hurricane-like storm" blew though he gave no basis for his conclu­ A German duke may have made the from the southwest for several hours be­ sion, the duke reported that "the Indians first written record of an Elkhorn flood fore the winds subsided, giving way to a are so clever in the choice of their vari­ when he visited the basin in 1823. Paul torrential downpour. The rains crushed ous fields and so accustomed to such Wilhelm, Duke of Wiirttemberg, who a shelter erected by the party and wind storms that the crops will rarely be toured North America from 1822 to blew down the duke's tent, which the harmed."2These unidentified Indians 1824, traveled up the as storm's runoff "washed away with all had developed agricultural practices far as present South Dakota in 1823. other objects that were not too heavy to that protected their crops from destruc­ be carried along." tion by the Elkhorn's predictable Todd Kerstetter is a doctoral candidate in Daylight revealed "giant" cotton­ overflows. the Department ofHistory at the University woods lying on the ground, either Visions of fertile soil beneath prairie ofNebraska-Lincoln. blown down by the storm or split by grasses drew aspiring farmers from the

176 Elkhorn Basin

United States and abroad to Nebraska Territory in the late 1850s. As they staked claims westward from Missouri River settlements, they often followed streams, hoping to reap a bountiful har­ vest from rich bottomlands. In some places rivers or creeks also powered mills that could convert bottomland har­ vests into commercial goods such as flour. Such an economic package at­ tracted settlers after the Omahas to the Elkhorn River basin. The Elkhorn did not offer a honey­ moon to the new arrivals, but greeted them from the beginning with flooding that was almost an annual occurrence. In the spring of 1857 West Point founder Uriah Bruner negotiated flood-damaged roads to reach the townsite.3 Having Ox team on flooded Norfolk street, probably in the 18705 or early 18805. overcome a flood to found the town, (NSHS-M 182:5-57) settlers built a sawmill and later a flour mill to capitalize on the Elkhorn's cur­ died in the accident, but hundreds of The April 21 Fremont Herald reported rent. But almost from the beginning, other lives were given a fresh start. The that the Elkhorn "dashes through the economic enterprises on the river's train's cargo included open tanks con­ streets of Norfolk at will," doing much banks suffered from regular overflows. taining $30 ,000 worth of live fish damage but making for wonderful boat­ Floodwaters again tested settlers enroute from a Maine fish hatchery to ing. Reports do not indicate whether when the deluge of May-June 1873 hit stock California waters. Trout, pike, eel, this was a continuation of the March the basin. By May 29 the Elkhorn flowed lobster, bass, and other species escaped flood, or whether the Elkhorn had re­ at its highest level in six years. West into the Elkhorn when the train de­ turned to its channel only to overflow Point residents "risked their lives .. . railed. Meanwhile, residents in and again. Norfolk's streets lay submerged working like beavers" to clear driftwood around West Point repaired roads, wor­ under two to three feet of water, and the from the bridge across the "troubled wa­ ried about disease from stagnant water river washed out more than half a mile ters of the Elkhorn." By June 5 the ex­ in town, and probably rejoiced that of railroad track upstream from the city. pected flood had submerged parts of crop damage turned out to be "hardly Two railroad bridges in the same vicin­ the city. On Tuesday, June 3, the worth mentioning."s ity also fell to the flood, cutting train ser­ Elkhorn overflowed the east side of the Nearly eight years later, on March 31, vice to the end of the line. Approaches West Point mill dam and continued to 1881, the West Point Republican re­ to the railroad bridge at Neligh incurred rise until it reached the railroad tracks. ported the Elkhorn had risen more than damage, but the bridge held.7 The West Point Republican reported six feet above its low water mark and Responses to these floods show that "much damage" to crops, but little dam­ the highest water was still expected. Re­ early settlers adapted to flood condi­ age other than to gardens in town.4 ports indicated that ice gorges on the tions while waiting for the waters to re­ Receding waters, however, revealed river were at least partially responsible. cede and then rebuilt their damaged extensive devastation. Mill dams appar­ At Waterloo, near the Elkhorn's mouth, structures, railroad lines for instance, in ently suffered severely, as indicated by a a four-foot rise on Monday, March 28, the same place that had just succumbed report in the Republican that West lifted the Union Pacific Railroad bridge to the river. Hooper's innovative resi­ Point's mill dam and bridge withstood several inches off its foundation . In a dents restored wagon travel by pooling the high water better than any other in prophetic forecast, the Republican esti­ their money to buy lumber, which they the area. Downstream, near the mated the river might take two or three used to build a boat. They twisted fence Elkhorn's confluence with the Platte, a weeks to return to normal. The problem wire into a cable, stretched it across the westbound Union Pacific passenger was not limited to the Elkhorn. Ice river, and began ferrying wagons and train derailed when a trestle spanning a gorges on the Missouri River also passengers across the swollen Elkhorn .s flooded slough east of the Elkhorn River caused disastrous flooding in the spring The upper Elkhorn basin again felt collapsed. At least one crew member of 1881 6 the river's touch during the last week of

177 Nebraska History - Winter 1995

Clockwise: Flooded homes on the outskirts of Norfolk. (NSHS-M 182:5-56) The Elkhorn overflowed through Norfolk's business and residen­ tial districts. (NSHS-M 182:5-59) These men used a rowboat to navigate Norfolk's flooded streets. (NSHS-M 182:5-53)

178 Elkhorn Basin

May 1888, as far upstream as Holt Figure 1. Floods in the Elkhorn Basin County. On Saturday, May 26, and Sun­ day, May 27, runoff from heavy rains filled the upper basin's streams to over­ flowing. Several bridges between Elkhorn River Holt 66 2 1 Clearwater and Neligh washed out, halt­ Antelope 66 2 9 ing rail traffic westward out of Neligh. Madison 66 2 16 The Elkhorn continued to rise until Stanton 66 3 17 Tuesday night, when flood waters Cuming 66 5 15 reached their highest point since 1881. At Neligh, soaked townspeople could 10­ Dodge 66 4 9 cate the mill dam only by the ripple it Washington 66 4 2 produced in the swollen river's current.9 Douglas 66 4 5 On Monday, May 28, Norfolk re­ Sarpy 66 4 2 mained dry as levees along the North Fork contained the water, which had Cedar Creek Antelope 66 4 2 climbed to within eight inches of the Giles Creek Madison 38 7 2 levee's crown. Like the Elkhorn at Neligh, the North Fork reached its high­ Buffalo Creek Madison 10 2 3 est level since 1881. Between 3 A.M. and Battle Creek Madison 35 3 9 4 A.M. on Tuesday, May 29, the North Fork broke a seventy-foot crevasse in North Fork Pierce 66 9 7 the levee and flooded into Norfolk as far Meskenthine Stanton 39 5 west as Main Street. Water ran deep Creek enough for boating in the neighbor­ Union Creek Madison 35 3 3 hood's gutters. Residents scrambled to Stanton 35 3 3 plug the gap with six hundred sandbags and later that day the flood began to re­ Humbug Creek Wayne 31 0 2 cede. Fortunately for taxpayers, streets Stanton 31 2 3 and sidewalks suffered "no great dam­ age." But the freshet flooded houses, Plum Creek Wayne 35 2 4 washed out an unreported length of Cuming 35 4 3 railroad track, made the county bridge Pebble Creek Dodge 66 7 south of town impassable, and sub­ merged a number of farms south of Logan Creek Cedar 66 0 2 the Elkhorn. 10 Dixon 66 1 3 In response to the flood, a group of Wayne 66 1 8 ingenious and civic-minded Neligh resi­ Thurston 66 2 6 dents collected funds to build a four- Cuming 66 4 oared flatboat to ferry passengers across Burt 66 2 the Elkhorn at no charge. The town 6 council also authorized a bank stabiliza­ Dodge 66 3 4 tion project at the waterworks pumping Maple Creek Dodge 66 3 station to prevent future floods from washing the building downstream. East Fork Colfax 66 4 (Maple Creek) Norfolk's Journal credited the levee on the North Fork, just upstream from the Middle Fork Colfax 66 3 (Maple Creek) mill dam, for minimizing damage. The paper also claimed that a larger, better- Rawhide Creek Dodge 66 9 built levee would have kept the "raging Bell Creek Washington 66 0 Elkhorn within its proper bounds." The Journal renewed its call a week later, Source: Elkhorn River and Tributaries, Nebraska, 81st Cong., 1st sess., urging the town to enlarge and H. Doc. 215 (Washington D.C. : GPO, 1949), 18.

179 Nebraska History - Winter 1995

strengthen the levee to prevent future Elkhorn flood waters often wash into A.M. people there were abandoning flood damage. 11 the area. About this time-sometime be­ their homes for higher ground. Friday West Point residents suffered again in fore 1911- several drainage districts the waters crested eight to ten inches 1891 when summer floods inundated modified Rawhide Creek, flowing above the old mark recorded above the the village. At about 3 P.M. on June 24 through Colfax and Dodge counties, by mill dam. Citizens armed with chalk lightning ripped Cuming County's sum­ constructing an extensive system of congregated on the corner of Norfolk mer sky. Thunder rumbled over the ho­ drainage ditches. However, when the Avenue and Fourth Street to mark the rizon as sheets of water fell for five districts dissolved, the ditches deterio­ height of the historic flood. As quickly hours from a storm that dumped 7.3 rated from lack of maintenance. As the as the flood materialized, it dissipated. inches of water on West Point and sur­ ditches and the Rawhide Creek channel At Clearwater, upstream from Neligh, rounding areas. Runoff transformed filled with silt and debris, they ceased to the Elkhorn dropped four feet during West Point's east-west streets into function properly and caused an in­ the night of April 1-2.16 streams. Buggies, wagons, cultivators, crease in the frequency of flooding ex­ High water damaged structures in mowers, lumber, and other flotsam and perienced by adjacent lands. 14Although downtown Norfolk, washed out roads jetsam floated past downtown buildings these projects succeeded when properly and railroads, and inundated farm land toward the Elkhorn. The waters washed maintained, their neglect indicated the surrounding the city. Water undermined away the newly built gutters meant to necessity of continual upkeep. pavement in town and made jagged channel them and unceremoniously A severe flood in 1912 kept high wa­ roller coasters of sidewalks. Flooding ru­ dumped the gutter bricks in fields out­ ter on the minds of basin residents. Melt­ ined goods stored in the basements of side town. The flood also laid bare the ing snow contributed to the March-April downtown businesses. Washed out rail­ pipes of West Point's waterworks. Only a flood of 1912, which washed out bridges roads crippled train traffic to the south few Main Street businesses escaped in the valley and left oldtimers compar­ and east. Without freight service damage. Estimates put the city's loss at ing it to the flood of 1881 . At Stanton, Norfolk's stores experienced shortages $10,000; private losses in town at an­ centrally located in the basin, seventy­ of meat, which sold out in several stores other $10,000 to $15,000; and county six inches of snow fell during the winter by Saturday night. Southwest of Norfolk losses at an additional $40,000 .12 of 1911-12-more than double the thirty­ the Elkhorn swelled to three-quarters of During the first decade of the twenti­ inch annual average for the previous a mile wide and swamped farms . In one eth century, the desire for flood control twenty years. March alone saw thirty-six case it flooded a corral with as much as led people in several counties to form inches of snow fall at Stanton. By March four feet of water. 17 drainage districts-private, quasi­ 25 ice still covered the Missouri River, By the time of the 1912 flood, governmental organizations dedicated and nearby residents expected serious Norfolk's residents had made plans to to improving drainage within their juris­ flooding as warm weather melted snow respond. Twelve families in southeast dictions. One anti flood strategy was to and the icy crust on the rivers. Railroad Norfolk began collecting boats and wag­ "improve" the Elkhorn and its tributar­ officials, fearing for the well-being of ons to seek higher ground within five ies. So-called improvements consisted their lines, met at Omaha to plan for the minutes of a blast from the town's fire primarily of channel straightening with­ expected flood. They ordered dynamite whistle-doubling as a flood warning out appreciable channel enlargement. distributed to explode river ice gorges device. As waters rose Thursday, labor­ On the lower Elkhorn in Dodge, Wash­ and facilitate drainage. IS ers at the town's waterworks hustled to ington, Douglas, and Sarpy counties, the The expected flood materialized at build a cofferdam that successfully pro­ Elkhorn River Drainage District and the Norfolk at 5 P.M. on Wednesday, March tected the station's machinery and kept Elkhorn Valley Drainage District com­ 27, when the North Fork, an Elkhorn Norfolk supplied with potable water. pleted several such projects prior to tributary that joins the main river south­ Ironically, sewers engineered to drain 1912. According to an engineering re­ east of town, rose high enough to halt water and waste from the town's build­ port, the projects successfully drained operations at the Norfolk mill. As had ings backed up, flooding a number of the valley, but only during rains and been the case historically, Norfolk's basements. With the sewer system dis­ floods of limited magnitude. 13 flood came as the North Fork over­ abled, wastewater from the electric light Around 1910 the Western Sarpy flowed north of town, flowed through plant could not be disposed of, forcing County Drainage District dug a series of the city, and rejoined its channel to the the plant to shut down. ditches to drain bottom lands just east southeast. By 7 A.M. Thursday, flood Reports of residents observing the ris­ and upstream from the Elkhorn's mouth warnings arrived from Pierce, a North ing waters from a dike and of waters near Gretna. Although this area nor­ Fork community upstream from Norfolk. streaming over a retaining wall indicate mally lies outside the Elkhorn basin and Two hours later water covered the that the town had built structures to de­ drains east, ultimately into the Platte, southeast section of the city, and by 10 fend itself from freshets. Flood warnings

180 Elkhorn Basin

Flooded rural road near Beemer. (NSHS-C969:2-9) from upstream gave entrepreneurs most of the day Thursday to move inventory from flood prone basements, thus avert­ ing costly losses. In other defensive or adaptive responses, Norfolk's residents turned to footwear and watercraft. One shoe dealer sold out a $200 stock of boots Friday morning, restocked, and sold out again before noon. Businesses that normally delivered goods to cus­ tomers by wagon resorted to using boats as delivery vehicles.18 Water from tributaries further swelled the lower Elkhorn. From the court­ house tower in West Point, the valley looked like a sea with islands of high land dotting the waterscape. The flood Flooding In Beemer, Nebraska, about 1917. (NSHS-C969:2-9) rendered all of Dodge County's "impor­ tant" bridges inoperable, an estimated

181 Nebraska History - Winter 1995

$125,000 loss. Neighboring Cuming Figure 2. Floods, Droughts, and River Modifications in the Elkhorn Basin to 1944 County also lost several small bridges and culverts, but the Republican claimed they were not significant. August 12-13, 1823 Flood Paul Wilhelm, Duke of Wurttemberg, Water washed away the approaches to makes first record of flood on Elkhorn; the river bridge at West Point, but again, thunderstorm primary cause of flooding the paper reported the damage as "not Spring (March?) 1857 Flood West Point founders hampered heavy." West Point lost its mill dam, a reaching town site significant blow because the mill April-June 1873 Flood Neligh, Norfolk, West POint; spring snows powered the pump for the town's contributed to flooding waterworks.1 9 March-April 1881 Flood Norfolk to Waterloo, damage as far upstream The Republican's report also under­ as Neligh; ice gorges contribute to flooding scored the significance of human changes to the basin's landscape. The paper argued that while the 1881 flood­ waters likely reached farther into town, June 24 & Flood Rainstorms create two separate floods July 23, 1891 at West Point there were fewer sidewalks and other embankments to impede its progress. 1896 Normal Nine-year drought ends This, however, contradicts modern in­ precipitation terpretations, which argue that struc­ Late 1900s Organizations QuaSi-governmental drainage districts formed tures in the f100dway increase the sever­ formed to to modify streams in hopes of cutting flood combat flooding losses ity of f100ding .20 Such misconceptions of flood mechanics mark human re­ ca. 1917-ca. 1926 Logan Creek Several drainage districts combine resources project to straighten the creek's channel. Resulting sponses through much of history. work cuts creek's length to less than half By 1912 inhabitants of the Elkhorn its original distance. basin obviously had taken action to March 27-29 to Flood Norfolk to Dodge County; ice jams, snow-melt minimize the effects of flooding. By early April 1912 clog river placing property of value in the flood March 1917 Flood High water record set at Norfolk, runoff from plain, residents were motivated to try to melting snow and rain contributes to flood control the river and also left them­ May 28-29 to Flood O'Neill to Gretna; Norfolk suffers damage selves more vulnerable to its mercurial June 5, 1917 comparable to 1912; heavy rains contribute nature. to flood Between 1910 and 1920 flood fighters adopted an even more aggressive strat­ 1920s Pebble Creek Pilger-area residents dig a new channel and egy. Around 1914 workers dredged the modifications build system of levees Elkhorn's final twenty miles, creating a 1924 Drought; Three-year dry spell begins; Sanitary District channel combining segments of both Norfolk Sanitary undertakes improvements to North Fork at old and new channels. The length and District formed Norfolk gradient of the natural channel can no 1927 Three-year drought ends longer be determined exactly. Subse­ quently, an entirely new channel was created for nearly all of Logan Creek, 1935 Dam built on W.P.A. laborers build dam which flows almost due south from the North Fork at vicinity of the Cedar-Dixon county line Pierce to its mouth near Winslow in east cen­ 1936 Flood control Installed by Norfolk Sanitary District tral Dodge County. Work began some­ structure installed at time before 1917 and continued spo­ Norfolk mill dam radically until completion about 1926. The new Logan Creek ran about seventy June 2, 1940 Flood Basinwide; flood most damaging to date miles, less than one-half its original 150­ 1941 Normal Eight-year drought ends mile length. Several drainage districts precipitation participated in the project under a well­ May 12-15, 1944 Flood Basinwide; flood of record for Elkhorn and coordinated plan that brought relief June 11-13, 1944 its tributaries through reduced severity and frequency

182 Elkhorn Basin

of flooding. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, this intensive, com­ prehensive, offensive approach to ma­ nipulating a waterway paid dividends in the form of reduced flood damages. 21 The Elkhorn's main stem, however, received no such treatment and soon wrought more destruction on property in its flood plain. Norfolk felt a pair of floods in 1917. The first, in March, came when runoff from melting snow over­ whelmed the capacity of local streams and sent flood waters to their highest mark yet in Norfolk. After the March flood, which surrounded a number of homes, disrupted commerce, and caused three deaths, Norfolk's city A 1920 flood washed out the approach to the Elkhorn Bridge at Tilden. (NSHS-M182:6-11) council assumed responsibility for flood control in town and, according to a servers reported that the Elkhorn had ever, the spring 1920 flood involved newspaper report, began developing reached lands never before affected by channel modifications made the previ­ flood control plans 22 floods and covered considerable farm ous winter. A series of ripraps that had Two months later, heavy rains in late land west of Norfolk, it had not yet risen been built near the Elkhorn bridge at May caused widespread flooding, in­ high enough to disrupt railroad traffic.25 West Point diverted the channel, endan­ cluding rare flooding on the Elkhorn as Elkhorn basin residents got a three­ gering the bridge's east end. Workers far upstream as O'Neill. Reports of high year reprieve from major flooding until used dynamite to remove the obstruc­ water on the North Fork at Pierce two weeks of April rain in 1920, coupled tive ripraps from the channel. 27 Basin reached Norfolk on Saturday, May 26, with several feet of snow that had fallen dwellers seemed to be learning by do­ prompting the mill operators at Norfolk earlier in the upper basin, prompted the ing when it came to flood control and to lower the gates of the mill dam to al­ Republican to lament 'in a headline, the implications of altering the flood low the maximum amount of water to "Waters Cover the Earth." High water plain. escape downstream. In O'Neill the reached record heights at Inman­ Flood stories still dominated the front Elkhorn washed out one bridge and about fifteen miles downstream from page of the Norfolk Daily News on April submerged another. Farther down­ O'Neill-on April 20, making roads im­ 26. Railroad bridges west of Norfolk, stream at Neligh, the Elkhorn rose to passable for miles. The Elkhorn swelled already weakened so that train traffic record heights and breached the dike to two miles wide at Ewing. At Neligh, across them had been suspended, between the upper and lower mill dams the river rose eighteen inches during the could no longer sustain even pedestrian in two places, each one hundred feet twenty-four hours between April 19 and traffic. Until then, trains apparently wide. South of town the river covered 20. Around midnight, the Elkhorn de­ stopped at the bridges while passengers roads and flooded Riverside Park.23 stroyed the impoundment dam at the disembarked, walked across, and By Tuesday, May 29, the flood's crest Neligh Mill, causing several thousand boarded another train. If the Elkhorn's reached the Norfolk vicinity, where dollars worth of damage and ending the swirling waters were not hazardous farmers west and upstream of town mill's reliance on direct hydro power. enough, uprooted trees and other debris awoke to find low-lying pastures sub­ From then on, diesel-generated electric­ carried by the swift current slammed merged. Boys in the area made the best ity would grind the mill's flour.26 into pilings, further weakening the struc­ of the flood by scooping up fish that West Point received five inches of tures. The flood also disrupted Norfolk's had been washed into the pastures. By rain and about a foot of snow during telecommunications; at least two tele­ this time the flood danger on the North April's final two weeks. This time the Re­ phone poles washed into the Elkhorn. 28 Fork had passed and the Elkhorn's rise publican proclaimed 1920 to be the ban­ The Norfolk newspaper speculated appeared to have slowed. 24 ner flood year since 189l. As usual, the on April 26 that the flood's crest had That appearance proved deceiving, flood damaged several bridges, roads, passed and downstream communities however, as the river continued to rise sidewalks, and bottomland crops. De­ could soon expect to be inundated. Re­ at Norfolk through Wednesday morning, lays in train schedules and mail delivery ports from Beemer and West Point that thanks to additional rain . Although ob- resulted. Unlike previous floods, how­ day both confirmed that flooding was

183 Nebraska History - Winter 1995

already underway. At West Point, the was too costly and that the unstable na­ tive in combating minor floods. 35 water reached its highest point since ture of the riverbed's soil made the Despite such wide-ranging attempts 1888, rushed down at least one of the project impractical. "It is generally to curb flooding along the Elkhorn and town's streets, covered bottomland on known that a fallen tree in the stream is its tributaries, the 1940s brought two of the town's west end, and damaged sur­ enough to so divert its flow as to form a the most devastating floods in history. rounding farm land.29 new and different channel at that point, During the night of Monday, June 1, In a rare occurrence, the 1920 flood of such unstable character and nature 1940, cloudbursts dumped a foot or claimed a human life. After changing are its banks and the lands tributary," more of rain in the north-central basin channels, the Elkhorn washed out the they wrote. They also argued, "It does swelling the North Fork. But Norfolk's approach to the bridge at Tilden. To not logically follow that because of the citizens did not fear a North Fork flood ferry people and supplies across the unusually highwater of this season, the because of the spillway channel river, residents had strung a cable-with highest of many years, that the same will straightening project built by the Nor­ a boat attached-across the river. C. A. recur every year hereafter."33They were folk Sanitary District in the 1920s and Davis, who lived seven miles north of right, of course, but a series of even 1930s. The Elkhorn was a different mat­ Tilden, and another man tried to reach worse floods twenty years later may ter. Just upstream from Norfolk, farmers Tilden using the ferry, but the boat cap­ have left them wishing they had sup­ reported a four-foot rise between 6 A.M. sized. Davis's companion swam to ported the project. and 8 A.M. on June 2. Although it was safety, but the cold current swept Davis It took Norfolk-area residents until on the storm's fringe and received only to his death.3o 1924 to organize the Norfolk Sanitary 1.08 inches of rain, the Elkhorn made a At Norfolk, a channel change left District. It did not, however, take the similar rapid rise Tuesday morning at thirty people stranded on a 160-acre is­ district's organizers long to modify the West Point. Witnesses considered it "un­ land nestled between the new channel North Fork of the Elkhorn to curb its de­ believable that such a catastrophe that and water flowing through the old chan­ structive floods. From the mill dam at completely inundated all property in nel. The "victims" relied on boats to Norfolk to the North Fork's confluence less than a half hour could happen."36 bring supplies from the mainland as with the Elkhorn, the district straight­ At Pilger, high waters disrupted water they ran low on food. According to a ened and cleaned the channel and built and electrical service, leaving the town Norfolk Daily News report, the new several bridges. In 1936 the district built without power for more than ten hours channel that stranded the thirty cut a flood control structure at the dam, during the night of the storm. Turbulent across a corn field from which it had which allowed operators to control the waters rushing through Humbug Creek been diverted for years by a dike.31Hu­ flow of water, to a certain extent, past to the Elkhorn churned through the man interference with the river kept it the obstruction. In 1935 Works Progress earthen levees built during the 1920s.37 from its natural course and seemingly Administration laborers finished a dam Again, bridge damage threw railroad lulled inhabitants into a false sense of on the North Fork at the city of Pierce to schedules behind for a week or more af­ security that led them to build in an form a small lake for recreational use ter the flood. Most damage to the Chi­ area rightfully belonging to the river­ and minor flood control.34 cago and North Western Railway lines an area the river reclaimed during the Farther downstream, other communi­ came between Norfolk and West Point, 1920 flood. ties tried to protect themselves from where a bridge sustained damage and Elkhorn bridges were reinforced flooding through a variety of measures. several bridge approaches and about against the effects of future floods. In During the 1920s Pilger area workers four miles of track were washed out, Holt County, a new steel and concrete dug a new channel for Humbug Creek some of it carried a quarter of a mile bridge was built across the river south of and built a system of levees along the downstream. The next day the Chicago O'Neill. In addition, a bridge spanning lower three miles of the creek to protect and North Western reported thirty-five an overflow channel was built. Finally, Pilger and nearby farm land. Pebble miles of track washed out in the West workers raised the road grade by two Creek, which flows southeasterly Point-Stanton area, and the Union Pa­ feet through the river bottoms. Similar through southern Cuming and northern cific closed its mainline traffic to Nor­ bridges spanned the South Fork and Dry Dodge counties, lost several sharp folk. West Point, Beemer, Pilger, Wisner, Creek, two Elkhorn tributaries.32 bends (dates of the work are unclear) and Stanton were without rail service Weeks later, in June 1920, landown­ when the banks were cut through to for at least ten days according to esti­ ers proposed an Elkhorn drainage dis­ straighten the stream. Improvements mates. The flood also disrupted tele­ trict to undertake channel modifications also included a system of small levees. phone service, leaving residents of West and other measures to control the river. However, because individuallandown­ Point and Pender to communicate via Opponents of the project wrote to the ers made these modifications piece­ short wave radio. 38 West Point Republican that the project meal, they were reportedly only effec­ Like a wave, the crest of the flood

184 Elkhorn Basin

Constructing a dike at the Pierce Dam, 1935. (NSHS-F293-2559) rolled down the valley. By Wednesday went on with its eightieth birthday cel­ Oakdale branch line, suffered a wash­ morning the crest had passed Stanton, ebration while under warning that the out and wreck on the branch line early allowing residents there to begin assess­ flood's crest, which would peak at thir­ on the morning of June 6, injuring four ing the damage. Mud and silt buried the teen feet above normal , was expected people. As late as Saturday, June 8, re­ corn crop, which would have to be re­ to arrive sometime Thursday during the ports from Scribner indicated the planted as soon as the soil dried, and celebration. The Norfolk Daily News Elkhorn was still rising. 43 covered pastures and grain fields. High­ even reported that "no great trouble is Responses to the 1940 flood, seem­ way traffic returned to near-normal in anticipated" from the crest.41 ingly the worst to date, were among the the Norfolk area by Wednesday after­ Just as residents ofthe upper basin most comprehensive. Representatives noon, but washouts left some sections may have thought their flood adven­ from the University of Nebraska's agri­ closed. The Nebraska Department of tures were ending on Wednesday and cultural college visited flood-worn Roads warned motorists using Highway Thursday, a second storm hit Norfolk northeast Nebraska to assist county ex­ 275, the main route between Norfolk and areas east and south of Pilger. tension agents in advising farmers how and Omaha, to beware of flooding as Downstream, counties near the to limit their crop losses. Their sugges­ the crest moved toward West Point. Elkhorn's mouth began to feel the ef­ tions centered around replanting f1ood­ When the flood swept over the highway, fects of the heavy rains. At Winslow and damaged corn, sorghum, and forage it deposited trees and other debris that Nickerson, where Logan and Maple crops with early-maturing varieties. Re­ effectively blocked the highway from 1 creeks, respectively, empty into the planting, however, required the Agricul­ A.M. to 4 A.M. Thursday. Traffic re­ Elkhorn, water covered "great stretches" tural Adjustment Administration to turned to nearly normal by 8:30. 39 of farm land. In Dodge County Logan modify its regulations governing crop al­ Even before the flood crested in West Creek and the Elkhorn overran their lotments. The Red Cross provided serum Point, rising water forced families to banks to flood an estimated sixty farms. for typhus vaccinations and supervised evacuate their homes or seek assis­ Arlington in Washington County re­ the dispersal of lime and other fumigat­ tance. Some found food and shelter in a ported its highest water since the ice ing agents used on the town after the local church converted into the Red gorge of 1912 . The Elkhorn left its banks flood receded.44 Cross relief headquarters. The hatchery in three places near Gretna on Thursday Throughout the basin crews began at West Point lost more than 1,200 morningY repairing roads and bridges. Cuming chickens and two tons of feed. Water in The renewed rains and flooding com­ County alone suffered an estimated parts of the city reached higher levels plicated the basin's already crippled $200,000 damage to public facilities, than that of the 1912 flood, and the city transportation system. The Chicago and more than $100,000 from damages to lacked mail service from Monday until North Western, forced to reroute its roads and bridges. The Board of Super­ at least Thursday.40 Black Hills traffic from the washed out visors of Cuming County called an emer­ Despite these damages, West Point West Point-Norfolk section to its gency meeting on June 7 to explore

185 Nebraska History - Winter 1995

West Point, Nebraska, during one of the frequent Elkhorn floods. Courtesy of author. sources of federal aid and requested One 1940 response foreshadowed re­ floods became increasingly devastating. $100,000 to offset repairs to bridges and sponses to the next serious floods. A Accordingly, inhabitants began taking roads. Within two weeks of the flood, representative of the U.S. Department steps to safeguard their property, mainly Works Progress Administration laborers of Agriculture visited th~ West Point the buildings that made up their towns. repaired twenty-five bridges in Cuming Community Club's regular July meeting Initially, these efforts assumed a defen­ County. In more unsavory work, they re­ to gather information about damages sive character-dikes, levees, and flood­ moved about eighty-five tons of debris incurred in the flood. The information ways to halt rising water and divert it from West Point's streets and buried rot­ was turned over to government engi­ from buildings and farm land. Over ting carcasses of drowned animals.45 neers to help them formulate plans to time, trood protection efforts assumed Railroad workers took two weeks to avoid similar flood problems in the fu­ an offensive character-altering the make temporary repairs to the Chicago ture. The engineers, however, appar­ river, usually through straightening or and North Western line that allowed the ently did not use the information, be­ otherwise "improving" its channel, to railway to function while permanent re­ cause a similar meeting four years later prevent flooding in a particular locale. pairs were underway. On July 2, the collected the same type of information Examining the response to floods county supervisors spent $5,463 from for the same purpose and found its way also casts light on human nature and the Emergency Bridge Fund for further into a report by the Army Corps of the American political system. The 1940 repairs. By August it had become appar­ Engineers.47 flood clearly showed Elkhorn basin resi­ ent that the damage to Cuming County's Through the first ninety years of per­ dents their continued vulnerability to bridges would exceed the amount bud­ manent settlement in the Elkhorn basin, flooding. Yet hardly any of them at­ geted for repairs, and the supervisors floods assumed increasing importance tended a hearing to assess flood dam­ raised the Emergency Bridge Fund levy to its residents and elicited increasingly ages and discuss projects to prevent or for 1940 from .0125 mills to .224 mills­ complex responses. In 1857 high waters minimize future floods. A scant four nearly an eighteen-fold increase. Al­ merely impeded West Point's founders years later, nature and the Elkhorn though the supervisors dropped the levy in their travels to the townsite. Early set­ would twice send floodwaters, the high­ the following year, they lowered it only tlers had little choice other than to bear est and most destructive yet, onto the to .13 mills, perhaps indicating they had the flood's frustrations and wait for the flood plain. Those floods would draw learned a lesson from the 1940 flood, water to recede. But as soon as they, serious attention and deserve their own that they were still paying for its dam­ and other town founders, built in the story. ages, or both.46 valley, especially in the flood plain,

186 Elkhorn Basin

Notes Management, State of Nebraska Natural Resources West Point Republican, June 13, 1940; "150 Home­ Department, interview with the author, Lincoln, less in West Point Region," Fremont Daily Tribune, I "Flood Bill at $16.6 Million," Lincoln Journal, Feb . 11, 1992. June 5, 1940. These accounts disagree on the num­ ber 01 people receiving aid from th e Red Cross. Mar. 24, 1993. 21 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, "Red Cross Opens Local Relief Headquarters," Review Report, 46; Ray Bentall et aI., Water Sup­ 2 Paul Wilhelm, Duke of Wiirttemberg, Travels in "Worst Flood in History Inundates Much 01 plies and the Land: The Elkhom River Basin ofNe­ North America, 1822-1824, trans. W. Robert Nitske, Cuming County," West Point Republican, June 6, ed. Savoie Lottinville (Norman: University of Okla­ braska (Lincoln: University 01 Nebraska, 1971), 19. 1940. homa Press, 1973),334-5 . 22 "Floods Follow Torrential Rain," Norfolk Daily 41 "3 Inches More Rain Adding to Flood Worries," News, May 28,1917. 3 Frank Schmitt, "A Pioneer Nebraska Commu­ Norfolk Daily News, June 6, 1940; "Worst Flood in nity," Nebraska History 18(April-June, 1937): 80. " Ibid. History Inundates Much of Cuming County," West 4 West Point Republican, May 29, June 5, 1873. Point Republican, June 6, 1940. 24 "Near Death at Battle Creek in Flooded River," 'Ibid., June 12, 19, 1873. Flood damage reports ibid., May 29, 1917. 42 "3 Inches More Rain Adding to Flood Worries; in newspapers of this era should be read carefully Norfolk Daily News, June 6, 1940; "New Floods 25 "Elkhorn Flood Covers Fields, Damages and critically. Crops," ibid., May 30, 1917. Threaten Pilger, Wisner," Fremont Daily Tribune, June 6, 1940. 'Fremont Weekly Herald, Mar. 31,1881; "The 26 "Waters Cover the Earth," West Point Republi­ 43 "Pilger Flooded"; "Waters Are High in Scribner Flood," West Point Republican, Mar. 31,1881. On can, Apr. 30, 1920; "Damage by Flood Feared as Missouri River flooding see John E. Carter, River Overflows Bank," Norfolk Daily News, Apr. Vicinity," Norfolk Daily News, June 8, 1940. "Niobrara, Nebraska: The Town Too Tough to Stay 20, 1920; Kent E. Martin, Neligh Mill Museum, 44 "Experts Advise Crops for Area of Flood," Fre­ Put!", Nebraska History 72 (Fall (991):14449. Neligh, Nebraska: A Self-Guided Tour (Lincoln: Ne­ mont Daily Tribune, June 6,1940. "AM Regula­ 7 Fremont Weekly Herald, Apr. 21, 1881. braska State Historical Society, n.d.), 26. tions Are Modified," ibid., June 7, 1940; "Red Cross Opens Local Relief Headquarters," West Point Re­ ' Ibid., Mar. 31, 1881; "The Flood," West Point Re­27 "Waters Cover the Earth," West Point Republi­ publican, June 6, 1940. publican, Mar. 31,1881. can, Apr. 30, 1920. 4' "Board Seeks Bridge Repair Funds," West Point 9 "The Freshet," Neligh Leader, June I, 1888; ibid., 28 "Flood Undermines Three Spans of Bridge, Republican, June 13, 1940. Cuming County, Ne­ June 8, 1888. Collections of lower basin newspa­ Cuts Off Train Service with West," Norfolk Daily braska, Board of Supervisors County Board Pro­ pers are incomplete lor May 1888; thus the discus­ News, Apr. 26, 1920. ceedings, June 7, 1940, 7:457-58. "Emergency Work sion is limited to the upper basin. 29 "Stores at Beemer Invaded by Flood," ibid. Opens Bridges," West Point Republican, June 20, 10 "Raging Waters," Norfolk Daily News, May 29, 3. "Tilden Man Drowned in Flooded Elkhorn," 1940. 1888; "The Booming North Fork," ibid., May 30, ibid., Apr. 29 , 1920. 46 "Railroad Service on Regular Schedule," West 1888; ibid., May 31, 1888; Norfolk Journal, May 31, Point Republican, June 20, 1940. Cuming County, 1888; "The Flood," ibid. 31 "30 Marooned as River Flood Forms Island," ibid., Apr. 30, 1920. Nebraska, Board of Supervisors, July 2, 1940, "Neligh Leader, June I, 7, 1888; "The Flood," 7:459; Aug. 12, 1940, 7:475; Aug. 19, 1941, 8:53. Norfolk Journal, May 31, 1888; ibid., June 7, 1888. 32 "Highway Through Holt Being Made Safe From Flood," ibid., May 7, 1920. 47 "Ag Official Points to Flood Control Work," 12 Cuming County Advertiser, June 30, 1891. West Point Republican , July 11, 1940. 33 "The Proposed Elkhorn Drainage District," 13 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, West Point Republican, June 25, 1920. Review Report on Improvement for Flood Control and Allied Purposes, Elkhorn River and its Tributar­34 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, ies, Nebraska (Omaha: U.S. War Department, Review Report, 4546. (947),44. 3' lbid.

14 Ibid., 4446. 36 "Water Rising at Pierce; Madison, Battle Creek

15 "Expected Flood Arrives," West Point Republi­Hit," "Spillway Helps Prevent Flood in This City," can and Cuming County Advertiser, Apr. 5, 1912; Norfolk Daily News, June 4, 1940; "Worst Flood in "High Water," ibid., Apr. 12 , 1912; "Rivers are Ris­ History Inundates Much of Cuming County," West ing Fast," and "The Winter 01 Big Snows," Norfolk Point Republican, June 6, 1940.

Daily News, Mar. 25, 1912. 37 "Two Dead, 6 Missing in Flood," Fremont Daily " U.S. Engineer Office, Interim Report on Flood Tribune, June 4, 1940. U.S. Army Corps of Engi­ Control for the City ofNorfolk, Elkhorn River Basin, neers, Omaha District, Review Report, 4546.

Nebraska (Omaha: U.S. Engineer Office, (946),26; 38 "Railroad Service on Regular Schedule," "Again Out of Water," The Norfolk Daily News, "Emergency Work Opens Bridges," West Point Re­ Apr. 1, 1912; "The Elkhorn is Falling," ibid., Apr. 2, publican, June 20, 1940; "Farmland in County 1912. Flooded," Fremont Daily Tribune, June 5, 1940;

17 "Again Out of Water," Norfolk Daily News, Apr. "Water Rising at Pierce; Madison, Battle Creek 1,1912. Hit"; "Many Towns Are Lacking Rail Service," Nor­ folk Daily News, June 4,5, 1940. 18 "Elkhorn Bridge Damaged," West Point Repub­ lican and Cuming County Advertiser, Apr. 12, 1912. 39 "Farmers Find Flood Damage is Tremendous," Norfolk Daily News, June 5, 1940. "Pilger Flooded," 19 "Expected Flood Arrives," ibid., Apr. 5, 1912. ibid., June 6, 1940. 20 Ibid. Brian P. Dunnigan, Head, Flood Plain 4. "Red Cross Closes Emergency Relief Station,"

187