THE GREAT FLOOD IN CALIFORNIA.; Great Destruction of Property Damage $10,000,000. Published: January 21, 1862
Great Flood of 1862
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Great Flood of 1862 was the largest flood in the
recorded history of
Oregon,
Nevada, and
California,
occurring from December 1861 to January 1862. It was preceded by weeks
of continuous rains (or snows in the very high elevations) that began in
Oregon in November 1861 and continued into January 1862. This was
followed by a record amount of rain from January 9–12, and contributed
to a flood which extended from the
Columbia River southward in western Oregon, and through California to
San Diego, and extended as far inland as
Idaho in the
Washington Territory,
Nevada and
Utah in the
Utah Territory, and
Arizona in the western
New Mexico Territory.
The event was climaxed by a warmer, more intense storm with much more
rain that was much more serious, due to the earlier large accumulation
of snow, now melted by the large turbulent heat fluxes into the snow
over the lower elevations of the mountains. Throughout the affected
area, all the streams and rivers rose to great heights, flooded the
valleys, inundated or swept away towns, mills, dams, flumes, houses,
fences, and domestic animals, and ruined fields. An early estimate of
property damage was $10,000,000.
[1]
However, later it was estimated that approximately one-quarter of the
taxable real estate in the state of California was destroyed in the
flood. Dependent on
property taxes,
the State of California went bankrupt. The governor, state legislature,
and state employees were not paid for a year and a half.
[2] 200,000 cattle drowned, and the state's economy shifted from ranching to farming.
[3]
In recent years the flood has held the attention of the
USGS
and emergency planners, who used it as an example when modelling the
impact of a similar event happening in modern-day California. The
official name for such an event is "
The Arkstorm", and it is unofficially called "The other big one".
[4][5]
Background
A map of the flood area of the hypothetical
ARkStorm event.
The floods were likely caused by precipitation from
atmospheric rivers, or narrow bands of water vapor about a mile above sea level that extend for thousands of kilometers.
[6]
Prior to the flooding, Oregon had steady but heavier than normal rainfall during November and heavier snow in the mountains.
[7]
The weather pattern that caused this flood was not from an
El Nino, and from the existing Army and private weather records, it has been determined that the polar
jet stream was to the north as the
Pacific Northwest
experienced a mild rainy pattern for the first half of December 1861.
The jet stream then slid south and freezing conditions were reported at
Oregon stations by December 25. Heavy rainfall began falling in
California as the
longwave
trough moved down over the state, remaining there until the end of
January 1862 and causing precipitation everywhere in the state for
nearly 40 days. Eventually the trough moved even further south, causing
snow to fall in the
Central Valley and surrounding mountain ranges.
[8]
Oregon
There was an excess of precipitation in November 1861 over most of
Oregon, less so in the extreme northwest. It was cold enough at the
higher elevations so that much snow fell in the
Cascade Mountains, which when later melted by the warm rains produced the great quantity of water which flooded into the
Willamette River and other streams in the Cascades. Tributaries of the Willamette rising in the
Oregon Coast Range
did not rise so high. Then the depression that came in at the beginning
of December produced strong, warm southerly winds in Oregon, with
extremely heavy rain. The crest of the flood was reached at
Salem on December 3; at
Oregon City on the 4th; at
Milwaukie, between Oregon City and
Portland on the 5th; at
Albany
December 8, a second rise at Albany greater than the first. The crest
at Albany and Salem were the highest ever known at any time. In Oregon,
the flood was one of the largest in the history of the
Willamette Valley
and the rest of Western Oregon. Flooding was heaviest on rivers with
tributaries arising from the snow-covered Cascade Mountains.
[7]
An article in the December 14, 1861,
Oregon City Argus, described the course of the flood at Oregon City:
| “ |
During
the month of November the rain had been falling almost continuously,
and a vast amount of snow must have accumulated in the mountains. No
snow, however, had fallen in the Willamette Valley, and the river, up to
Sunday, December 1st, exhibited no indication of an unusual rise. It
might have been noticed, and doubtless will be again if the phenomenon
ever occurs hereafter, that November's long and rather cold rain was
succeeded during the closing days of the month by a warm, humid state of
the air, rain falling in copious showers almost without intermission.
On Sunday the river looked swollen and threatening, but, until still
later, no serious apprehensions were entertained. On Monday morning the
steamer Rival left this place for Portland while the Express came
up on her usual trip, but finding navigation difficult and dangerous
they concluded to leave the trip half done, each boat stopping at the
wrong end of her route. The Onward also started up the river on
her usual trip. The Island Mill was kept running Monday and through the
night. Mr. John Chapman and his wife being on the Island unsuspicious of
danger. But the crash of the falling bridge just before daylight,
destroying all egress to the main land, roused them to a consciousness
of immediate danger, and they passed several anxious hours before help
could be extended to them and they could be extricated from their
perilous situation in skiffs from below. This was accomplished safely
and in good time, for the water was rising rapidly, and by afternoon
rushed down the chasm over which the bridge had stood in a way to
prevent all approach. This afternoon (Tuesday) a large part of the
breakwater at the warehouse on the opposite side of the river succumbed
to the immense pressure of water, and at intervals great masses of
timbers comprising the crib-work would burst up and be swept away by the
mighty torrent.
Tuesday evening a gloom settled on a scene such as probably never
was witnessed in our Valley before. The ceaseless roar of the stream
made a fearful elemental music widely different from the ordinary
monotone of the Falls; while the darkness was only made more visible by
the glare of torches and hurrying lights, which with the shouts of
people from the windows of houses surrounded by the water, all conspired
to render the hour one of intense and painful excitement. The flood has
covered the highest mark of January '53, and is still rapidly rising.
As late as anything could be seen the mills were still standing, but the
insatiate monster is still creeping up inch by inch, winding its
swelling folds round the pillars and foundations of all the houses in
its way, crushing and grinding them in the maw of destruction, and
sweeping the broken fragments into a common vortex of ruin. All night as
on the night previous, people whose homes were being invaded hurried to
places of security, glad to escape even with the sacrifice of all their
goods.
The light of Wednesday morning revealed a scene of desolation
terrible in its extent no less than in its completeness. The Oregon City
and Island Mills, Willamette Iron Works, Foundry and Machine Shop; all
the breakwaters designed to protect the mills and upper end of Oregon
City except one short piece are carried away, and over where they stood
now sweeps a foaming current against which no building unprotected by a
solid breakwater as a defense could possibly stand. An immense amount of
drift has passed and apparently the debris of many houses but
everything is ground so fine and is hurried out of sight so quickly that
little can be known for certain. On the fragments of a large barn, as
appeared by the quantity of grain, straw, etc., sat a number of
chickens, bearing melancholy evidence of devastation above. We were
compelled to vacate our office this afternoon, the water rising nearly
two feet on the floor. Main Street is navigable for skiffs past our door
down as far as the Masonic Hall.[7]
|
” |
Flood waters were so high that at Oregon City at the flood's crest on December 5, the steamer
St. Clair
was able to run the falls and steamers were able to visit points at
some distance from the normal river channel. Although large amounts of
wheat and flour were swept away, some was recovered when Oregon City's
Island Mill was found on
Sauvie Island downriver from Portland. The nearby town of
Linn City was completely destroyed by flooding and was not rebuilt.
[9] In addition, the flood destroyed the historic town of
Champoeg, site of the first provisional government in Oregon, and
Orleans, across the Willamette River from
Corvallis. Neither was rebuilt.
[7]
The flooding was also severe in other parts of Oregon; the
Umpqua River
had the greatest flood known even to the oldest Indians, and water was
10–15 feet (3.0–4.6 m) feet higher than the 1853 flood. It rose from
November 3 to December 3, subsided for two days then rose again until
the 9th. At Fort Umpqua, communication up river was cut off above
Scottsburg, and the river was full of floating houses, barns, rails and
produce. At
Port Orford, the
Coquille River swept away settlers' property and also did great damage on the
Rogue River and on other small streams."
[7]
Flood damage was so great because the rivers in Oregon were the main
routes of travel. The river front was the building site of mills,
freight depots, and storehouses for grain and other foodstuffs. Business
houses and many residences were near the landings. Farm buildings were
mostly on sites convenient to the rivers, along with supplies of feed
for livestock. Loss of so much wheat flour and demand from the new Idaho
gold fields caused a spike in its price from $7 to $12 per barrel.
Idaho
In the interior of
Washington Territory
the storm creating the flood in Oregon dumped its precipitation as an
unprecedented snowfall. Flooding on the Columbia River and the snow in
the mountains, closed off supplies to the new mining towns on the
Salmon River, causing starvation among the miners of
Florence,
cut off from December until May 1862. In early July, as the heavy
burden of snow in the Mountains melted, the runoff caused great
flooding. The
Boise River
flooded from extremely high runoff and is believed to been four times
larger than its largest recorded flood in 1943. Flood waters made the
river expand to a couple of miles wide.
[10] It washed away or covered the original route of the
Oregon Trail in the river valley.
[11]
Northern California
Fort Ter-Waw, located in
Klamath, California, was destroyed by the flood in December 1861 and abandoned on June 10, 1862.
[12] Bridges were washed away in
Trinity and
Shasta Counties.
[13] At
Weaverville,
John Carr was a witness to the sudden melt of snow by the heavy rain
and onset of the flood in December 1861 on the Trinity River:
| “ |
The
winter of 1861–2 was a hard one. From November until the latter part of
March there was a succession of storms and floods. I remember my being
in Weaverville, I think it was in the month of December, 1861. ... It
had been raining all the day previous. The ground was covered with snow 1
foot (0.30 m) deep, and on the mountains much deeper. We arrived at the
ranch just before dark, and I wanted to cross his bridge and stay at
John Carter's that night, but " Uncle " Strudivant would not listen to
any such thing. Stay with him I must. He told me that the bridge was
named Jeff Davis, and that old Trinity could not carry enough water to
wash "Jeff" out,.... He had a private cottage a short distance from the
ranch and toll-house. It was close to the foot of the mountain, the
divide between Weaverville and the Trinity River.
... He and I advocated our respective sides of the political issues
until 11 o'clock, when we " turned in." It rained all afternoon and
night. The weather had turned warm, and the rain came down in torrents.
Several times I went to the door during our political discussion, and
every time it seemed to be raining harder, and I wished myself on the
otherside of Trinity River. I frequently said, " Uncle Joe, I am afraid
the bridge will go." His reply was, " Jeff will stand it." ... We slept
until about 4 o'clock in the morning, when Jerry Whitmore, one of Uncle
Joe's partners, came to where we were, and knocked on the door to wake
us up. Uncle Joe called out, " What is wanted?" Jerry replied, "The
bridge is gone—not a stick left, and, the water will soon be up to the
house."
The water in the river had been rising all night, and men were
stationed on the bridge with poles to keep logs from striking the piers.
At about 4 o'clock in the morning a large spruce tree came down the
river with roots, branches and all. The men seeing it come, and knowing
the bridge was doomed, escaped from the bridge before the roots of the
tree struck it. It was well they did, for one of the men who were on the
bridge told me next morning that as soon as the tree struck the bridge
it went through it as if nothing had been in its way, cutting it
completely in two, and the whole structure fell into the river and was
soon out of sight. As soon as daylight came Uncle Joe and I went to the
ruins. Not a plank of the bridge was left. The rain was yet pouring
down. The snow was nearly all gone. Everything around the place looked
desolate. On the flat where the house was built they had the finest
bearing orchard in Northern California. If the river rose but a little
more, the trees would be swept away, and the house with them. All the
forenoon the river continued to rise, and at last it began to spread
over the orchard and wash the black loam away. Finally, as the current
became stronger amongst the trees, one after another began to fall, some
floating off with the water, and others hanging by the roots. Trinity
that morning was playing havoc with the settlers on its banks. It was
dreadful to look upon. Standing on high ground, one could see property
of all kinds on its way to the ocean. The river itself seemed like some
mighty uncontrollable monster of destruction broken away from its bonds,
rushing uncontrollably on, and everywhere carrying ruin and destruction
in its course. When rising, the river seemed highest in the middle.
When falling, it became lowest in the middle, and all the drift worked
toward the center of the stream. When the river was at or near its
highest, one could see floating down parts of mills, sluice-boxes,
miners cabins, water-wheels, hen-coops, parts of bridges, bales of hay,
household furniture, sawed lumber, old logs, huge spruce and pine trees
that had withstood former storms for hundreds of years—all rushing down
that mad stream on their way to the boundless ocean. From the head
settlement to the mouth of the Trinity River, for a distance of one
hundred and fifty miles, everything was swept to destruction. Not a
bridge was left, or a mining-wheel or a sluce-box. Parts of ranches and
miners cabins met the same fate. The labor of hundreds of men, and their
savings of years, invested in bridges, mines and ranches, were all
swept away. In forty-eight hours the valley of the Trinity was left
desolate. The county never recovered from that disastrous flood. Many of
the mining-wheels and bridges were never rebuilt..[14]
|
” |
Flooding of the Central Valley
- "The rainy season commenced on the 8th of November, and for four
weeks, with scarcely any intermission, the rain continued to fall very
gently in San Francisco, but in heavy showers in the interior. According
to the statement of a Grass Valley paper, nine inches of rain fell
there in thirty-six hours on the 7th and 8th inst. Whether, it is
possible that so much rain could fall in thirty-six hours I will not
decide; but it is certain that, the amount was great, for the next day
the river-beds were full almost to the hilltops. The North Fork of the American River at Auburn
rose thirty-five feet, and in many other mountain streams the rise was
almost as great. On the 9th the flood reached the low land of the Sacramento Valley."[7]
Like many other towns along the tributary rivers to the
Sacramento and
San Joaquin Rivers, at
Knight's Ferry, its homes, its mill and most of its businesses were ruined by the flood. Its bridge spanning the
Stanislaus River
withstood the flood waters but was destroyed when the debris of the
bridge at Two-Mile Bar, only a short distance up river, torn from its
foundation, crashed into the Knights Ferry Bridge, crushing the truss
supports and knocking it from its rock foundation.
[15] Some towns like
Empire City and
Mokelumne City were destroyed entirely.
Sheet music cover depicting Sacramento flooding
The entire Sacramento and
San Joaquin valleys were inundated for an extent of 300 miles (480 km), averaging 20 miles (32 km) in breadth.
[16] John Carr wrote of his riverboat trip up the Sacramento River when it was at one of its highest stages of flood:
| “ |
... I was a passenger on the old steamer "Gem", from Sacramento to Red Bluff.
The only way the pilot could tell where the channel of the river was,
was by the cottonwood trees on each side of the river. The boat had to
stop several times and take men out of the tops of trees and off the
roofs of houses. In our trip up the river we met property of every
description floating down—dead horses and cattle, sheep, hogs, houses,
haystacks, household furniture, and everything imaginable was on its way
for the ocean. Arriving at Red Bluff, there was water everywhere as far
as the eye could reach, and what few bridges there had been in the
country were all swept away. I managed to get to Cottonwood, and had to lay over for a week before any of the streams between there and Hay Fork Valley were fordable.[7] |
” |
The city of
Sacramento suffered the worst damage due to its
levee, which lay in a wide and flat valley at the junction of the
American and
Sacramento Rivers.
When the floodwaters entered from the higher ground on the East, the
levee acted as a dam to keep the water in the city rather than let it
flow out. Soon the water level was 10 feet (3.0 m) higher inside than
the level of the Sacramento River on the outside. Dozens of wood houses,
some two stories high, were simply lifted up and carried off by the
flood, as was "all the firewood, most of the fences and sheds, all the
poultry, cats, rats and many of the cows and horses". A
chain gang
was sent to break open the levee, which, when it finally broke, allowed
the waters to rush out of the city center and lowered the level of the
flooding by 5–6 feet (1.5–1.8 m). Eventually the waters fell to a level
on a par with the lowest part of the city.
[7] From 1861 to 1862, the state capital was moved from flooded Sacramento to San Francisco.
Nevada
The
Carson River Basin of the eastern California and western
Utah Territory (now
Nevada),
suffered from a similar pattern of flooding. Flooding began in
December, 1861 in Carson Valley from a series of storms in the upper
Carson River basin. Two feet of wet heavy snow fell on December 20,
1861, accumulating on the valley floor. Snow was followed by a period of
very cold temperatures which froze the snow, followed by a three-day
rain starting on December 25, 1861. By January 2, 1862, the town of
Dayton and the area surrounding it had been flooded.
[17]
In the vicinity of
Aurora
there had been light snowfall in November, then mild weather until
Christmas Eve when it began a heavy and rapid snowfall for days, the
temperature dropped below zero and the passes over the
Sierras
were closed. During the second week of January it warmed slightly and
the snow became a torrential rain. Esmerelda and Willow gulches
overflowing their banks flooded Aurora, with water standing up to three
inches deep in many buildings, adobe buildings turned to mud and
collapsed. After a week it cooled again and snow began to fall again.
Within a few days the snow was deeper than it had been before the rains
had begun to fall. Samuel Young of Aurora, recorded in his diary that
the snow and rain had fallen for twenty six days out of thirty since
December 24, 1861.
[18]
Southern California
In
Southern California, beginning on December 24, 1861, it rained for almost four weeks for a total of 35 inches at
Los Angeles.
[citation needed] In the
San Gabriel Mountains the mining town of
Eldoradoville was washed away by flood waters.
[19] The flooding drowned thousands of cattle and washed away fruit trees and vineyards that grew along the
Los Angeles River. No mail was received at Los Angeles for five weeks.
The Los Angeles Star reported that:
The road from Tejon,
we hear, has been almost washed away. The San Fernando mountain cannot
be crossed except by the old trail ... over the top of the mountain. The
plain has been cut up into gulches and arroyos, and streams are rushing
down every declivity.[20]
The plains of Los Angeles County, at the time a marshy area with many
small lakes and several meandering streams from the mountains, were
extensively flooded and much of the agricultural development which lay
along the rivers was ruined. In most of the lower areas small
settlements were submerged. These flooded areas formed into a large lake
system with many small streams and a few more powerful currents cut
channels across the plain and carried the runoff to the sea.
At
Santa Barbara County, the narrow coastal plains were flooded by the rivers coming out of the mountains. The
San Buenaventura Mission Aqueduct that was still drawing water from a tributary of the Ventura River for the town of
Ventura water system, was abandoned due to the damage in the area that become the separate
Ventura County in 1873.
[21]
In
San Bernardino County, all the fertile riverside fields and all but the church and one house of the
New Mexican colony of
Agua Mansa, were swept away by the
Santa Ana River,
which overflowed its banks. Father Borgotta ringing the church bell on
the night of January 22, 1862 alerted the inhabitants to the approach of
the flood, and all escaped.
[22]
In Los Angeles County, (including what is now
Orange County)
the flooding Santa Ana River created an inland sea lasting about three
weeks with water standing 4 feet (1.2 m) deep up to 4 miles (6 km) from
the river.
[16] In February 1862, the Los Angeles,
San Gabriel, and Santa Ana Rivers merged. Government surveys at the time indicated that a solid expanse of water covered the area from
Signal Hill to
Huntington Beach, a distance of approximately 18 miles (29 km).
In
San Diego, a storm at sea backed up the flood water running into the bay from the
San Diego River, resulting in a new river channel cut into
San Diego Harbor.
The continuous heavy downpour also changed the look of the land, the
previously rounded hills were extensively cut by gulleys and canyons.
[23]
To the north, in the
Owens Valley,
similar snow and flooding conditions as those to the east in Aurora,
lead to the local Paiute suffering the loss of much of the game they
depended on. Cattle newly driven into the valley to feed the miners,
competed with the native grazers and ate the native wild plant crops the
Paiute depended on to survive. Starving, the Paiute began to kill the
cattle and conflict with the cattlemen began, leading to the subsequent
Owens Valley Indian War.
Arizona
In western
New Mexico Territory, heavy rains fell in late January causing severe flooding of the
Colorado River and
Gila River.
On January 20, 1862 the Colorado River began to rise, and on the
afternoon of January 22 it rose suddenly in three hours from an already
high stage nearly 6 feet (1.8 m), overflowing its banks and turned
Fort Yuma in
California into an island in the midst of the Colorado River. At 1 o’clock on the morning of January 23 the river reached its crest.
[24] Jaeger City a mile down river from Fort Yuma, and
Colorado City, across the
Colorado River
from it were washed away. The river overflowed its banks to the extent
that there was water 20 feet (6.1 m) deep on a ranch in the low lying
ground just above
Arizona City where the Gila River joined the Colorado. The riverside home of steamboat entrepreneur
George Alonzo Johnson and the nearby Hooper residence were the only places in the town unharmed because they were built on high ground.
[25] Colorado City had to be rebuilt on higher ground after the 1862 flood.
[26]
The Gila River also flooded, covering its whole valley at its mouth
where it met the Colorado from the sand hills on the south to the
foothills on the north. Twenty miles to the east of Fort Yuma, it swept
away most of the mining boomtown of
Gila City along with a supply of hay being gathered there to supply the planned advance of the
California Column into
Confederate Arizona.
Further east the road was flooded, buildings and vehicles swept away
and traffic was disrupted for some time thereafter by the mud covering
the road to Tucson.
[27]
The great flood in the Gila and Colorado Rivers, covered their bottom
lands with mud. Much of the livestock along the rivers drowned and the
crops of the Indians along the river were destroyed.
[28]
The overflow of the 1862 Colorado River flood waters reached the
Salton Sink via the
Alamo and
New Rivers filling it creating a lake some 60 miles (97 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) wide.
[29]
Utah
The early southwestern
Utah settlements in
Washington County,
St. George,
Grafton,
Duncans Retreat,
Adventure, and
Northrop were nearly destroyed by a flood that followed forty-four days of rainfall in January and February 1862.
[30] Springdale and
Rockville were founded in 1862 by settlers flooded out of Adventure, Northup and other places in the vicinity.
References
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