History of Sacramento County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, 1923, Part 25

Author: Reed, G. Walter
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1026

USA > California > Sacramento County > History of Sacramento County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, 1923 > Part 25

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The high land at the head of I Street, near the plaza, was densely crowded during the flood with human beings, wagons, tents, cat- tle and horses. As in the flood of 1850, the dwellers near the sloughs on the south side of the city and all those on lower ground escaped from the water and made this their camping ground. On J Street a number of Mexicans and boys improved the opportunity given them by free water, of washing the surface ground in

front of the different banking houses, in some instances with considerable success. The wild animals also sought refuge and fifteen rabbits were caught at one time in a dwelling near the slough, which proved a treacherous refuge for them. A large number of rats took up their abode on a big stump on Sixth Street, where they were soon slaughtered by men and boys, much to the disgust of a crowd of Chinamen who deprecated the destruction of so much good food.

The flood lasted four days before it began to subside. Before this, those who had urged the necessity of a substantial levee on the river front to keep out the flood waters had been largely in the minority and their arguments had been scornfully rejected and they often subjected to public denunciation for advocat- ing the incurring of such a needless expense. It was claimed and believed by many that even if a levee were built, the water would perco- late through and undermine it. But public opinion now underwent a radical change. The last flood had demonstrated the fact that it might become an annual occurrence and men thought it wise to heed the warning, and ar- rangements were made at once to construct more efficient levees.

December 19, 1852, a break occurred in the levee on the American River, between Stuart's and the Ridge. By the morning following the business portion of the city was submerged to a depth of several inches, but the water soon subsided, but little damage being done by it.

The city was again completely flooded Janu- ary 1, 1853. The water of the Sacramento River was twenty-two feet above low-water mark and two feet higher than during the great flood of 1850. Boats were again in great de- inand and New Year's calls were made in them. But the trade, although profitable, was brief, many of the boats being stranded by the quick- ly receding waters. While but little damage was done in the city, the county and those ad- joining it suffered considerable destruction of property and the incidental discomfort and suf- fering. The city now passed an ordinance for the improvement of the river levees.

For nearly eight years after this Sacramento escaped the floods and her prosperity increased. She was fast growing into a large city. She had passed through fire and flood and all the privations and misfortunes incident to the his- tory of a pioneer city, and far more than the average of them. Her people had met all these discouragements and misfortunes with a smil- ing face and an undaunted courage. It seemed as if they had surmounted all their trials and their career henceforth was to be one of con- tinued prosperity. But the end was not yet. Fate had not yet shot all her arrows of mis-

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fortune ; and one more, the most destructive of all, was yet to strike the city.

The precursor of the great misfortune was a flood on March 28, 1861, when the American again rose, quickly reaching a point twenty feet above low-water mark. It swept away the wing-dam at Rabel's tannery and damaged the levee at that point greatly. The water from Sutter's Lake overflowed its bounds and cut a channel through First Street to the American River : Swift's bridge, and Lisle's bridge across the American were both destroyed. Norris' bridge became impassable and ferries had to be established, there being no other means of crossing the American between Folsom and Sacramento.

About 8 o'clock on the morning of Decem- ber 9, 1861, the announcement was made that the levee on the eastern boundary of the city had given way and that the waters of the American River were sweeping down on the devoted city with uncontrollable fury. On they came with irresistible force. Well was it for Sacramento in that hour of trial that the break in the levee had not occurred in the night. Had it done so the loss of life would have been heavy. As it was, a number of per- sons were drowned and the property destroyed far exceeded in quantity and value that of any preceding flood. Bursting through the eastern levee, the water poured down along Thirty- first Street till it struck the R Street levee, which was swept away like an eggshell by the tremendous force of the current and the city was at the mercy of the flood. The other levees surrounding the city instead of proving a protection, now constituted a source of dan- ger and damage, confining the waters and forc- ing them to rise to a higher level than they might otherwise have attained.

Within an hour of the first alarm many per- sons on Eleventh Street found themselves sur- rounded by water and unable to escape. Their appeals for help were heartrending. Stock- owners began to bestir themselves, and great numbers of horses, mules, cattle, hogs and sheep were driven across the Yolo bridge and down to Sutterville. By eleven o'clock the water had risen to such a depth at Fifth and Sixth Streets that many houses were over- turned and set afloat. Women and children clung to the doors and windows of these and cried out for assistance. There was a scarcity of boats, and for a time many persons seemed doomed to perish inevitably. Many families were driven from their homes in the vicinity of the Pavilion, on the corner of Sixth and M Streets. The upper doors of the Pavilion be- ing locked, they were burst open and many sought refuge in the building.

The Howard Benevolent Society made its headquarters here, and, having four boats at

its disposal, furnished soup and blankets to all who came through the day. In turn M, L. K and J Streets were flooded by the water back- ing up from the R Street levee. Inmates of one-story buildings deserted them, while those living in two-story structures carried their bedding and furniture upstairs. Cellars were flooded and large quantities of merchandise of all descriptions destroyed. Boats and all im- aginable kinds of craft were employed in sav- ing life and property, and moved back and forth laden with passengers and various things. Many were upset, and many a foot passenger plunged into a deep hole, suffering temporary submergement.

Finally, the chain gang cut a hole through the R Street levee and the water poured out of it in a torrent. The force of the water here drew many houses afloat in the vicinity-some of them two-story edifices-into the break, where they were torn to pieces. It was im- possible to obtain any data as to the number of persons who perished. A teamster was drowned near Sutter's Fort. A man was drowned with his team at the corner of Ninth and M Streets through falling into an open cistern, and a child in the wagon was saved with great difficulty. It was generally sup- posed that many women and children were drowned in one-story houses, on account of their inability to escape to the roofs of their dwellings.

The only dry portions of the city were I Street, the river front, the R Street levee and Poverty Ridge, now known as Sutter Terrace. I Street and the levee were crowded with stock taken there for refuge. Many boats were em- ployed in the evening in taking passengers to and from the hotels and restaurants for meals, the fires in many of which had been extin- guished by the waters.

The steamer "Swallow." coming from Marysville, was dashed against the bridge pier, injuring two of her passengers. The train for Folsom went only to Poverty Ridge, passen- gers being carried thence in boats for half a mile and put on another train and carried to their destination. In many places the railroad track was destroyed. Early in the day the city gauge showed the water had risen to twenty- one feet, and at sundown it had risen six to eight inches higher, while the Yolo side was but slightly overflowed. During the night several houses floated down the river and female voices within them were heard shriek- ing vainly for help. Two sections of Lisle's bridge across the American were swept away. but lodged against the Sacramento bridge and were secured there.

The next morning was clear and the waters had subsided several feet, leaving L Street a bed of mud and those north of it likewise.

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Planks of sidewalks and crossings, stranded boats and scows used the day before, were scattered all around. The city south of L Street was still under water, having first felt the fury of the flood, and here boats were still in use. The area was crowded with capsized houses, merchandise and other things, and the loss of property here was great.

Many acts of humanity were performed, but avarice and callousness were also found dur- ing these perils. Some men borrowed boats on the levee under pretense of rescuing suf- ferers, but instead turned them into a means of extortion. One man had placed his wife on the roof of a house about to fall, and was obliged to pay one of these scoundrels $75 to carry her to a place of safety. A man stand- ing inside of a house, up to his chin in water, begged to be taken into a boat. The boatman demanded $15 fare, but he said he had no money. "Then I'll leave you to drown," was the unfeeling reply. Fortunately another boat came along and rescued him. Such things were common, and near midnight two women were saved who had been on the roof of a house on Eleventh Street, near L, for seven hours, unable to find a boatman who would take them off. The loss of property was esti- mated at $1,500,000. How many lives were lost will never be known. By December 11 the water had subsided and traffic was re- sumed.

Scarcely had this flood passed away, how- ever, when it was succeeded by another. On December 23, while men were still employed in building up and strengthening the levee on Burns' Slough, the American River rose again so rapidly that it carried away a portion of the new embankment and that portion of the city lying south of Tenth and L Streets was inundated the second time to a maximum depth of about four and a half feet. The water soon subsided and the levees were so far re- paired and strengthened that, although the Sacramento River five days later stood twen- ty-two feet and seven inches above the low- water mark, the highest yet recorded, the city was quite free from water in its business portion.

The rains still continued and as the lowlands could not clear themselves of flood water, a still greater calamity hung over the devoted city and would have been the climax of dis- aster had not the previous floods warned the inhabitants to be prepared for anything. That there was less loss of life and property is large- ly due to this fact, as the flood came suddenly. On Thursday, January 9, 1862, in consequence of the continued rains and the melting of the snows in the Sierras, the American River over- flowed the levee at Rabel's tannery and speed- ily covered the entire area lying east of the

Thirty-first Street levee, and before ten o'clock that night the water had covered the lower part of the city a foot deep.

The levee commissioners after the flood of December, 1861, had established a camp of about thirty men in the vicinity of Burns' Slough, under Charles Farley. The flood of January 9 came on them without warning, swept away the house and compelled its in- mates to take shelter upon the roof of the barn, which, being banked up by sand and sediment, withstood the flood.

About four o'clock Burns heard their cries and came in a whale-boat with an old sailor, to succor them. Farley, seeing his men pre- paring to jump into the boat, threatened to shoot the first one who did so without his or- ders, telling them that such a move would re- sult in the loss of all their lives. As a result, only five men were taken off at this time, and it then being too late to do more, the remain- ing twenty-five spent the night on the roof. During the night Mrs. Burns prepared soup and food for them and in the morning the whale-boat brought them a large milk-can filled with the hot soup. Burns, the old sailor and S. D. Carkhuff toiled all day and all were safely landed by night, Farley, the overseer, being the last man to leave the roof.

At daybreak on the 10th the southern part of the city was under two and a half feet of water, while the eastern part, north of J Street, was also flooded, and by one o'clock J and K Streets were flooded to Ninth and during the afternoon the flood attained the same height as the highest rise of December 8, 1861.

The scene in the afternoon was an animated one. Merchants erected platforms for their goods above the line of supposed danger and stock-owners were driving their horses, mules and cattle to the I Street and Front Street levees. Women and children moved to the upper stories or to the higher streets and hun- dreds of boats were afloat on the streets, carry- ing passengers. Many of them contained peo- ple apparently bent on pleasure excursions. There was much less danger than on former occasions and fear and anxiety were also less. The balconies were crowded with spectators and there was plenty of mirth and hilarity. In the southern and eastern parts of the city, however, many were forced to leave their homes without knowing where to go. All the hotels were soon overcrowded and the Pavilion again came into requisition as the headquar- ters of the Howard Benevolent Society, many persons being lodged and fed there.

The committee of safety had some time previous to this flood constructed a new levee at Rabel's tannery, leaving the old one stand- ing to protect it as a breakwater, letting the water in gradually to form a basin of still

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water and thus protect the new embankment. A person cut the old levee without authority and let the current flow against the new one, and only by the most strenuous exertions and the liberal use of gunny sacks, was the danger averted. A subsequent report of the engineers to the state board of swamp-land commis- sioners states that at this point the river makes an acute angle to the northwest, the effect be- ing to throw up a wall of water there, two feet higher than at any other point in the channel, and the water flowed over the levee, causing a crevice through which the flood poured at the rate of 60,000 cubic feet per second, with a torrent velocity due to the fall in the river of 3,000 feet in seventy-five miles.

During this inundation four deaths from drowning were reported and the destruction of property was considerable. About three- quarters of a mile of the Folsom railroad track was washed away. Many small buildings were carried through the R Street levee and de- stroyed. One thousand feet of the wall sur- rounding Agricultural Park, which was twen- ty feet high and fourteen inches thick, fell to the ground. The river rose five inches higher than on any previous occasion. The fires in the "Daily Union" office were extin- guished, stopping the press while it was run- ning off its weekly edition. The steamer "Gem" of the California Navigation Company was swept by the current through the break at Rabel's tannery, and stranded at Twenty-third and Z Streets in a peach orchard, whence she was launched with much difficulty in the fol- lowing February. Two dead bodies were found floating on the American River and two milkmen on Eighteenth Street, near R, lost seventy head of milch cows. The new levee at Rabel's tannery was only saved by using all the raw hides in the tannery to spread over its weak points.

The legislature was then in session and on January 11 a resolution was adopted by the senate, by a vote of twenty to thirteen, to ad- journ to San Francisco for the remainder of the session. The resolution was defeated in the assembly after a long discussion, by a vote of forty to thirty-six, but a further flood ap- pearing, the assembly agreed to the measure and on January 23 the legislature, with its attaches and furniture, removed to San Fran- cisco.

On January 12, the steamer "Defiance" went up the river to Patterson's, twelve miles above the city and seven miles higher than any steamboat had hitherto reached, and for some time after she made daily trips to that point. On the same day Wilson's bridge over the Cosumnes was overturned by the flood. From this time on the flood began to subside and navigation of the streets soon became impos-

sible, the only means of traversing them be- ing to wade through the mud with its accumu- lated filth and carcases of dead animals. The half-drowned and starving cattle along the rivers gave employment to all the steamboats and other craft in rescuing them. The flood was equally destructive throughout the county. At this time the only mining that had been done was mostly of a primitive sort. No levees, except in the case of the city, had been erected to repel the flood waters, as hydraulic mining had not yet raised the bed of the river. The water had full sweep over the valley, al- most to the foothills of the Coast Range on one side and to the rolling lands west of Fol- som on the other. This fact may give some idea of the immense volume of water poured into the valley by the continued rains. As one pioneer expressed himself to the writer: "We had six weeks' rain in January." An equal amount of rainfall now, in so limited a time, would do incalculable damage to the dwellers of the lowlands.

The "Daily Union" of Monday, January 13, 1862, has the following :

"Upon Friday night the American River rose sixty feet above low-water mark, and de- stroyed a large amount of property. The old flour mill of Stockton and Coover, built some seven or eight years ago, and the new one built by them last summer in conjunction with Car- roll & Moore of this city, were both carried away, and in their course took off the wire sus- pension bridge of Kinsey & Thompson. The new mill was designed to run nine pair of burrs, and is reported to have cost between $20,000 and $30,000. A large quantity of wheat therein stored was also lost. The wire bridge was built in the summer of 1856, and cost about $18,000. A wooden bridge some ten feet lower had been previously destroyed. The railroad bridge belonging to the California Central Railroad Company, some fifteen feet higher than the wire bridge, and of a single span, is still standing. So far as we have re- ceived information from various parts of the county, we are convinced that the late flood spread over a much greater area of territory and was far more destructive than any which has occurred since the county was settled.

"The waters from the American did great injury at Brighton; those from the Sacra- mento, a great deal in the townships border- ing on that river, and those from the Sacra- mento and Mokelumne produced a corre- sponding result in the southern part of the county. We are informed that families were taken from the tops of houses in boats, their buildings were carried away, and most of their stock destroyed. A large amount of stock on the lower Stockton road has been lost. Nor- ris' bridge, on the American River, some four

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miles from its mouth, which withstood the flood of December 9th, gave way on Saturday afternoon (January 11th) to the still stronger torrent. At about half past four o'clock two sections of the structure were carried off, and lodged on the north bank of the river, a short distance away. There is now no bridge stand- ing on the American River, that we are aware of, excepting only the railroad bridge at Fol- som."

While the elements were dealing death and destruction to mankind, animals and property, human philanthropy was not idle. Steamboats were dispatched daily from San Francisco, laden with cooked food for the sufferers. An aid society was organized at Folsom, and a deputation sent to Sacramento to invite the suffering and distressed to partake of the hos- pitality of that town. The work of the How- ard Society of Sacramento should never pass into forgetfulness. It will always live in the memory of those who were its beneficiaries and should never be forgotten by their chil- dren or descendants.

But the troubles of the city from flood were not yet ended. January 23. 1862, the new levee at Rabel's tannery broke and a crevice of 150 feet wide was opened, which speedily increased to 800 feet, flooding the business portion of the city. While it lasted only a short time, it was followed by the flood of February 24, which poured in through a break in the same place. The water encroached on the following day to such an extent that the great railroad scales on R Street, sixty feet in length, had to be removed. The railroad soon after being repaired, communication with Folsom was once more established.

The city was by this time aroused to the necessity for better protection and the authori- ties began to take active steps in the matter, and moved energetically to that end. Between the recession of the flood and January 1, 1863. more than $200,000 was spent in elevating the streets and otherwise improving them and in strengthening the levees. Since that time many hundred thousands of dollars have been spent in raising and strengthening the levees. After the flood of 1862 it became evident to the business men of the city that it was unsafe to depend entirely on the levees. A movement was put on foot for raising J and K, the prin- cipal business streets. It was an arduous job, but men were found to contract to do the work. and the buildings were raised, the streets filled in from six to eighteen feet and the city began to take on a more solid and permanent appear- ance. The flood of 1862 was the last one to do any damage to the business portion of the city, and it was not till sixteen years afterwards that the water invaded the city limits.

On the morning of February 1, 1878, it was

reported that a break had occurred in the levee below the city, near the Lovdal ranch. The gophers had honeycombed the levee and in a very short time the crevice, at first about twelve feet wide, had grown much larger and by the next morning was 300 feet wide and very deep. The roar of the waters pouring through the break could be heard for a great distance. The lowlands were soon flooded and the road to the city cemetery was soon covered and impassable. Attention was im- mediately turned to closing the openings on the streets passing under the R Street levee, which at that time was the city's only protec- tion on the south. By nightfall these were rendered secure, but the seepage water came up as far as Sixth and N Streets before the flood subsided.

On February 14 it was found necessary to cut the R Street levee at Eighteenth Street, to allow the accumulation of water from Burns' Slough to pass away. On the 20th the river rose to twenty-five feet ten inches above low- water mark and a strong gale forced the flood up against the levee, endangering it, but the citizens turned out at the alarm and made it secure. Steps were taken to close the break at the Lovdal place and by April 10 the city was once more safe.

The last flood of any consequence was in 1904, and is known as the "Edwards break." It occurred on February 26, of that year, at a place in the levee about three miles below the city. It was said at the time that it was caused by water seeping through gopher holes in the levee, and that it was discovered by a Portu- guese in the vicinity just after it had begun to trickle through, and could have been stopped at the time by stuffing a bale of hay or straw into the hole, but that the man valued the straw too highly to use it in that way. By night the crevasse had increased to 150 feet wide, and later it widened to 300 feet. About 15,000 acres were flooded, the water running down until it emptied into Snodgrass Slough. A number of residents had narrow escapes from drowning, but no lives were lost. Much sand was carried down by the current, badly damaging a number of farms. So strong was the current that many attempts to close the break by driving piles and filling in were un- successful, and not until some months after- wards, when the river fell, was it possible to repair the levee. At present the levee below the city is high and strong, the Southern Pa- cific having built one on which to run the Sacramento Southern Railroad trains.

The Levees

Previous to the flood of 1850 there had been no attempt at protecting the city by levees, owing to a wide divergence of opinion among

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the citizens, many of whom, coming from the East, had had no experience with floods and could not be convinced of the danger. But the flood of 1850 effected a sudden con- version in many of these and they became ardent supporters of a levee plan. Surveyors were employed as the waters receded, to sur- vey lines and locate a levee. On the morning of January 29, 1850, a meeting of citizens was called at the office of Priest, Lee & Company, to provide means to protect the city. Barton Lee was appointed chairman and J. L. L. F. Warren, secretary. Committees were ap- pointed to lay out the work, and at a second meeting, on February 2, estimates were pre- sented and the city council instructed the city engineer to prepare plans and estimates for the work. Four commissioners, Barton Lee and H. Biglow from the city and T. A. War- ren and Colonel Smith from the council, were appointed to act with the engineer in locating the levee. The engineer made an estimate of 161,000 cubic yards of earthwork, but the levee was not located on the lines laid out by him. On April 29, the citizens voted to raise by tax $250,000 for constructing a levee, only fifteen voting against it. The levee was built during the year from the high ground near Sutterville west to the east bank of the Sac- ramento, thence northerly along the bank of the river to the mouth of the American and then easterly along that river to high ground, about two and one-half miles. It was three feet high, six feet on top and twelve feet wide at the base, being much wider directly in front of the city.

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History of Sacramento County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present, 1923, Part 25

Author: Reed, G. Walter Publication date: 1923 Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co. Number of Pages: 1026

Author: Reed, G. Walter
Publication date: 1923
Publisher: Los Angeles : Historic Record Co.
Number of Pages: 1026