Frontier Belief Here About Mountain Snow and Spring
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FRONTIER BELIEF HERE ABOUT MOUNTAIN SNOW AND SPRING RIVER RISE __________ It Has Not Been Borne Out Through the Years by the Local Incidence of High Water, Not Always Seasonal by Any Means __________ By VICTOR MURDOCK Still a considerable local contingent continued to view Wichita’s recent fl ood experience, although occurring a “June rise” from melting snow as the chief source of in April, emphasizes that high water here can not be high water concern. And the late Spring of 1877 brought counted strictly seasonal. For while the current year’s them support in this view. The snow-waters of Colorado, experience can be put in the classifi cation of “Spring plus precipitation in western Kansas, now fi lled the Big rise,” this deluge came very early as compared with the Arkansas to capacity at this point. It would have been notable fl ood of the past, that of 1877, which made harmless at that except for a second circumstance - heavy, the last of May and the fi rst of June of that year long persistent downpours in the area that drains into the Little memorable to the pioneers who were to realize afterward Arkansas river. When the swollen current of that stream that serious stream overfl ows here were to be rare and reached the place of normal discharge, the confl uence that the fl ood of 1877 was exceptional. Previous to that with the Big Arkansas, that outlet was effectually stoppered event in 1877 the community had already learned that and the Little river went over the townsite. In after years high water could come also in the Fall, as it was later older citizens may have forgotten the details of that hectic to discover that early Summer can also produce in this hour. No boy who witnessed it could ever forget it. First line. In 1923 the fl ood came at the tag end of Spring and of all those in authority rang the fi rebell wildly. This was lapsed over into Summer. to mobilize the citizens for the construction of a levee In Wichita’s infancy the regional tendency to associate along the east bank of the Little Arkansas (from Murdock high water with the “June rise” received a setback when in avenue south). Vestiges of this work remains to this day. the Autumn of 1870 continued downpours in this section But somewhere in the vicinity of Elm and Pine streets fi lled all streams brimful, including the Big Arkansas, and the fl ood breached the levee and water spread over the halted all travel. There is no record that either of the townsite, with a main current pushing south-eastward to Arkansas rivers then leaked out over the new townsite but the corner of Main and Second streets, to Broadway and the city was thoroughly soaked from overhead. William First streets, to Douglas and Topeka avenues and then Ross of Clearwater has left a record of that visitation. south to a depression (English’s pond, near Kellogg and His wagon mired on North Main street between Douglas Emporia avenue). Citizens in the North End, believing avenue and First street and remained mired days on end. that the Santa Fe grade was holding the water back in Eventually when Mr. Ross rescued it by using the ferry that quarter dug a ditch through the grade and let some which had resumed operations he got to the west bank of of the water run off in that direction. This step along the stream and made his way home. with overfl ows from Chisholm Creek fi lled two swales to The fact that the Big Arkansas river was on a rampage the east of the city. One of these swales ran along North that Fall was a fl at refutation of the frontier assumption Cleveland avenue. The other ran across Douglas avenue that high water in that stream was to be ascribed invariably west of Hydraulic avenue and parallel to it. However the to melting snows in the Rocky mountains. Obviously this fl ood water east of the Santa Fe track in 1877 crossed could not be the cause of high water conditions here at farm land and involved comparatively few buildings. a time when the sun had been working on the Colorado Most of the occupied townsite was inundated. There supply all Summer. It was incontrovertibly precipitation were a few basements to bale out, but there were many on the prairies that fi lled the Big Arkansas here from fi rst fl oors to protect. Wichita went to work against the bank to bank in the Fall of 1870 and not mountain snow. fl ood waters with a will just as it did recently. The deep water on Douglas avenue at Topeka made the single railway station inaccessible to pedestrians. A sidewalk on stilts at this corner was promptly constructed. For a couple of days it was possible to navigate North Main street at First street in a rowboat. This was done. I heard the claim also that fi sh had been caught on that corner. I can not testify to that. But on North Emporia avenue, just south of Murdock avenue, I did see on the evening of the second day of the overfl ow the neighborhood chickens, pigs and cows congregated on a slight knoll, the only one in that quarter, now become an island. Down town there were several humorous signs stuck up such as: “No Bottom Here.” Whatever the losses of the community they were all forgotten in the gratifi cation that one big asset had been saved - the bridge at Douglas avenue, notable symbol of progress on all this frontier. Day and night citizens labored to dislodge driftwood from its piers. For many a year thereafter the fl ood of 1877 came into conversation whenever the topic was high water as it was on several occasions, as in the Spring of 1904 and the Summer of 1923 when, as this year, an excess of water suddenly appeared and as suddenly disappeared, a performance at this time as in the past, with or without the contribution of melting snows in the mountains, highly exciting. -- Evening Eagle, May 2, 1944.