If

If yoa no longer need this publication write to the Geological Survey in Washington for an 

official mailing label to use in returning it

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

K::'::3 FILES

iKICLCaY

FLOODS IN COLORADO

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 997
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

J. A. Krug, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W. E. Wrather, Director

Water-Supply Paper 997

FLOODS IN COLORADO

BY

ROBERT FOLLANSBEE AND LEON R. SAWYER

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1948

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25. D. C.

Price 40 cents
CONTENTS

Page

Abstract _______________---_----------.-------- _________________ 1

Introduction. _ ________________________________ _ __.- ______ 2

Acknowledgments. ______-_____---__----_---------------------_---.' 2

Previous flood investigations________________________________________ 3

Geological Survey______________________________ _____________ 3

State Engineer of Colorado ____________________________________ 4

City of Denver--__________-____--_-_-------------------___-_-_ 4

Occurrence of floods_____-____-----_-----------------------------__ 4

Topographic zones___________________________________________ 5

Influence of topography on precipitation _________________________ 5

Areas subject to floods_________________-_______________________ 7

Methods of measuring floods________________________________________ 9

Meteorologic conditions causing major floods ______________________ 10

1844____________. . 10

June 1864.____--___--_-------_--------------. -._-_-_----._ 12

May 21-23, 1876._.__ - -_.........__._ 13

June 1884____-_-__ ._ - - .... 14

May 29-June 1, 1894________.__ ._ . _________ 15

September 3-6, 1909____________.__.._______.____ 16

October 4-6, 1911...__________---_______________ 17

June 2-7, 1921______________.....____________ 19

Cloudbursts..-.______________________________________ 22

Precipitation records-____________-_-__-____________________ 22

Major floods..-_________-_-_------_----_---------__--_-_-_--______ 23

South Platte River____-__----__---__----_-______-.-_._____ 23

Bear Creek-____----_-----_--------------_._---_---____.__ 30

Clear Creek.___.____----__--___-_-_.-._________________ 35

Sc. Vrain Creek_-_-__-_.-_.--___-_-__.---_.-____-____.____ 38

Lefthand Creek_______________________________________ 41

Boulder Creek________________________________________ 41

South Boulder Creek______________________________ 44

Thompson River---__-----_--------_-_---___-___-_________ 46

Buckhorn Creek__.____________________________________ 49

Cache la Poudre River.____________________________________ 51

Cherry Creek-___-___-.___._--__-._---------.--.________ 59

Kiowa and Bijou Creeks ___________________________________ 68

Republican River_____________________________________________ 72

Arkansas River.______________________________________________ 72

Grape Creek__________-____--___---_______________________ 84

Wilson Creek..________________.--_-______--____________ 84

Fountain Creek.__________________________________________ 85

Comparison of floods___________________________________ 92

Templeton Gap_______________________________._______ 93

Hogans Gulch________________________________________ 94

St. Charles River.._ __._____________ 94

Chico Greek.._-.__.-.________._.________._______ 95
IV CONTENTS

Major floods Continued.

Arkansas River Continued. Page

Huerfano River_______________ _ ____ __ _____ 96

Apishapa River___________ ___ __ _ 99

Purgatoire River________________ _____ ____ ___________ 100

Wolf Creek and Granada Creek__________________ 111

Two Butte Creek____________________,__________ 112

Wild Horse Creek _____________________________ 112

Minor tributaries of Arkansas River________________________ 113

Rio Grande______________________________________ 114

South Fork Rio Grande________ _____________ 120

Alamosa Creek__________ ___ ______________ 121

Conejos River______________________________________ 122

Colorado River___________________________________ 123

Gunnison River_______________________________________ 126

Uncompahgre River__________ _______________________ 128

Dolores River_______________________________ 129

West Creek_____________________________ 130

San Miguel River___-_____________________________ 131

San Juan River_________________ _______________ ____ 132

Animas River___________________________________ 136

La Plata River___________ _______________ 139

Summary of maximum flood discharges_____________________________ 140

Changes in channel capacity and development of flood-protection measures 146

Index__________________________ _.____-_.___ 149

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page 

PLATE 1. City of Denver during the flood of May 19-20, 1864_______ 84

2. Damage to Denver & Rio Grande Railroad caused by flood of 

June 1921: A, Bridge west of Pueblo; B, Railroad yards in 

Pueblo. ________________________________ 85

3. Damage to tracks of Denver & Rio Grande Railroad caused by

flood of October 1911 on San Juan River near Pagosa Junction. 140 

FIGURE 1. Map of Colorado showing principal river systems and cities

mentioned in the text--- ______________ _________ 6

2. Typical stage hy drographs of cloudbu rst floods ______________ 8

3. Chart showing maximum flood discharge, in second-feet per

square mile, for various places given in the summary table__ 141
FLOODS IN COLORADO

BY ROBERT FOLLANSBEE AND LEON R. SAWYER

ABSTRACT

The first records of floods in Colorado antedated the settlement of the State 

by about 30 years. These were records of floods on the Arkansas and Republican 

Rivers in 1826. Other floods noted by traders, hunters and emigrants, some 

of whom were on their way to the Far West, occurred in 1844 on the Arkansas 

River, and by inference on the South Platte River. Other early floods were those 

on the Purgatoire, the Lower Arkansas, and the San Juan Rivers about 1859.

The most serious flood since settlement began was that on the Arkansas River 

during June 1921, which caused the loss of about 100 lives and an estimated 

property loss of $19,000,000. Many floods of Ipsser magnitude have occurred, 

and some of these have caused loss of life and very considerable property damage.

Topography is the chief factor in determining the location of storms and resulting floods. These occur most frequently on the eastern slope of the Front 

Range. In the mountains farther west precipitation is insufficient to cause floods 

except during periods of melting snow, in June. In the southwestern part of the 

State, where precipitation during periods of melting snow is insufficient to cause 

floods, the severest floods yet experienced resulted from heavy rains in September 

1909 and October 1911.

In the eastern foothills region, usually below an altitude of about 7,500 feet 

and extending for a distance of about 50 miles east of the mountains, is a zone 

subject to rainfalls of great intensity known as cloudbursts. These cloudbursts 

are of short duration and are confined to very small areas. At times the intensity 

is so great as to make breathing difficult for those exposed to a storm. The areas 

of intense rainfall are so small that Weather Bureau precipitation stations have 

not been located in them. Local residents, being cloudburst conscious, frequently 

measure the rainfall in receptacles in their yards, and such records constitute the 

only source of information regarding the intensity.

A flood resulting from a cloudburst rises so quickly that it is usually described 

as a "wall of water." It has a peak duration of only a few minutes, followed by 

a rapid subsidence. Nearly 90 cloudburst floods in Colorado are described in 

varying detail in this report. The earliest recorded cloudburst called at that 

time a waterspout occurred in Golden Gate Gulch, July 14, 1872. The "wall of 

water" was described as a "perpendicular breast of 10 or 12 feet." A cloudburst 

flood on Kiowa Creek in May 1878 caused the loss of a standard-gage locomotive, 

and although search was made by means of long metallic rods, the locomotive was 

never recovered, as bedrock was about 50 feet below the creek bed.

All available information relative to floods in Colorado, beginning with the 

flood of 1826 on the Arkansas River, is presented in this report, although for many 

of the earlier floods estimates of discharge are lacking.

Floods throughout a large part of the State have occurred in 1844, June 1864, 

June 1884, May 1894, and June 1921. The highest floods of record were on the

1
2 FLOODS IN COLORADO

larger streams and occurred as follows: South Platte River, June 1921; Rio 

Grande, June 1927; Colorado River, June and July 1884; San Juan River, October 

1911.

The greatest floods on the plains streams occurred during May and June 1935 

and were caused by cloudbursts. Ranchers living in the vicinity noted rainfalls 

as high as 24 inches in a 13-hour period, measurements being made in a stock tank.

The effect of settlement on channel capacities can be clearly traced. When 

settlement began, and with it the beginning of the livestock industry, the plains 

were thickly covered with a luxuriant growth of grasses. With the development 

of the livestock industry the grass cover was grazed so closely that it afforded 

little protection against erosion during the violent rains and resulting floods. The 

intensive grazing packed the soil so hard as to increase greatly the percentage of 

rainfall that entered the streams. This condition was noted during the Arkansas 

River flood of October 1908, when an estimated two-thirds of the 6-inch rainfall 

appeared almost immediately in the nearby streams.

The development of flood protection was of slow growth and progressed through 

four stages: (1) Removal of buildings to higher ground; (2) improvement of river 

channel capacity but without definite objective, owing to lack of knowledge of 

flood flows to be accommodated; (3) increase of channel capacity to equal measured peak flow of recent outstanding floods; and (4) construction of storage or 

detention reservoirs to hold back the greatest probable flood. These stages succeeded each other as losses from flood became greater and as the accumulation of 

meteorologic and hydrologic data permitted a more rational solution of the flood 

problem.

INTRODUCTION

In July 1938 the Federal Emergency Administration of Public 

Works made an allotment to the Geological Survey, United States 

Department of the Interior, for flood and drought studies. In Colorado the studies were devoted to a compilation of all available data 

regarding past floods. Not only were the newspaper files searched and 

all pertinent records obtained from the State engineer and other public 

officials, but all available writings of early travelers through Colorado 

before permanent settlement took place, including those of the Spanish 

explorers and padres, were examined. Information regarding some 

later floods was obtained through field studies. As a necessary part 

of flood study, meteorological data, so far as available, were compiled 

for the major floods.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The United States Weather Bureau furnished data on storms in 

Colorado. Search was made in the National Archives for material 

regarding storms in early years. The Bureau of Reclamation furnished 

newspaper clippings from the Gunnison Press Review regarding snowfall and high water during the spring of 1884 and a report on the Wilson 

Creek flood. L. T. Burgess, chief hydrographer in the office of the 

State engineer of Colorado furnished all available flood records. 

Acknowledgment of specific information is made at appropriate places 

in thg report. Valuable assistance was given by Mrs. Mildred Rex,
PREVIOUS FLOOD INVESTIGATIONS 3

librarian offthe^State historical society in Denver; by newspaper 

publishers throughout the State, who allowed access to their files; 

and by many residents who furnished data regarding floods in their 

localities. Leon R. Sawyer collected most of the flood data, Lawrence 

F. Hanks devoted considerable time to field examinations of specific 

floods, J. H. Baily made many of the computations, and Robert 

Follansbee prepared the report.

PREVIOUS FLOOD INVESTIGATIONS

Unusual floods, whether on large or small streams, have attracted 

the attention of the Geological Survey for many years, and whenever 

possible this bureau has made investigations of them and has published reports embodying its findings. Likewise, the State engineer 

of Colorado has investigated certain floods; for some of these his 

findings have been published, and for others unpublished reports are 

on file in his office. A few floods have been investigated by municipal agencies, which have published reports. In the preparation of 

this paper, these various reports have been drawn upon for pertinent 

facts, credit for which is given in connection with the discussion of 

the specific floods. A list of the reports follows:

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

HINDEBLIDEB, M. C., and assistants, Floods in the Denver district, in Murphy, 

E. C., and ethers, Destructive floods in the United States in 1904: U. S. 

Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 147, pp. 150-171, 1905. Includes 

the following: Flood on Cache la Poudre River [from reports of J. A. Armstrong], pp. 155-156; Purgatory River flood, by R. I. Meeker, pp. 158-169; 

La Plata River flood [from report of Theo Tobish], pp. 169-171.

FBEEMAN, W. B., Flood in the Arkansas Valley, Colo., October 1908, in Surface 

Water Supply of the United States, 1907-08, part 7, Lower Mississippi River 

Basin: U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 247, pp. 33-40, 1910.

FBEEMAN, W. B., Flood in San Juan Valley, September 5 and 6, 1909, in Surface 

Water Supply of the United States, 1909, part 9, Colorado River Basin: 

U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 269, pp. 187-191, 1911.

RTJSSELL, G. H., and GRAY, G. A., Flood of October 1911 in the region of the 

San Juan, San Miguel, and La Plata Mountains, in Surface Water Supply 

of the United States, 1911, part 9, Colorado River Basin: U. S. Geological 

Survey Water-Supply Paper 309, pp. 246-249, 1914.

FOLLANSBEE, ROBERT, and JONES, E. E., The Arkansas River Flood of June 3-5, 

1921: U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 487, 44 pp., 1922.

FOLLANSBEE, ROBERT, and HODGES, P. V., Some Floods in the Rocky Mountain 

Region, in Contributions to the Hydrology of the United States, 1923-24: 

U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 520, pp. 105-129, 1925. Includes, under the heading "Cloudburst floods," reports on the following 

localities: Templeton Gap near Colorado Springs, Colo., p. 121; Cherry 

Creek near Parker, Colo., pp. 122-123; Buckhorn Creek near Loveland, 

Colo., pp. 123-124.
4 FLOODS IN COLORADO

FOLLANSBEE, ROBERT, Upper Colorado River and Its Utilization: U. S. Geological

Survey Water-Supply Paper 617, 394 pp. 1929. Contains a section on floods,

pp. 151-154. 

FOLLANSBEE, ROBERT, and SPIEGEL, J. B., Flood on Republican and Kansas

Rivers, May and June 1935: U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper

795-B, pp. 51-52, 1937.

STATE ENGINEER OF COLORADO 

Published reports

6th Biennial Report [for the years 1891 and 1892]. 1893. Includes a brief 

report, by L. R. Hope, of the flood on Cache La Poudre River, June 9, 1891, 

due to the failure of the Chambers Lake Dam (p. 19), and the figures of peak 

discharge during that flood (p. 22).

8th Biennial Report [for the years 1895 and 1896]. 1897. Contains a description 

of the gaging station on Bear Creek at Morrison, and an estimate of the discharge at that station during the flood of July 24, 1896 (p. 454).

15th Biennial Report [for the years 1909 and 1910]. 1911. Includes reports on 

the failure of the Middle and Trout Lakes reservoir dams, in the early part 

of September 1909, due to a flood on Lake Fork of San Miguel River (pp. 

113-116).

28th Biennial Report [for the years 1935 and 1936]. 1939. Includes a paper by 

L. T. Burgess, entitled "Disastrous floods in 1933-1934-1935" (pp. 38-43), 

in which he describes briefly floods on the following streams: Purgatoire River, 

Sept. 15, 1934; Horse Creek, Aug. 28, 1935; Granada Creek, July 11-12, 1935; 

Monument Creek at Colorado Springs, May 30, 1935; Cherry Creek, Aug. 

2-3, 1933; Arikaree River, May 30, 1935; South Fork of Republican River, 

May 30, 1935; Bijou Creek, May 30, 1935; and Kiowa Creek, May 30, 1935.

Unpublished reports, on file in the Office of the State Engineer

HINDERLIDER, M. C., Report of the Horse Creek flood, Aug. 28, 1935, and the

failure of the Horse Creek Dam, 1935. 

BURGESS, L. T., Report on Purgatoire River flood at Ninemile Dam, Sept. 15,

1934. 

BURGESS, L. T., Report of floods in Granada and Wolf Creeks, July 11 and 12,

1935.

BURGESS, L. T., Report of flood, Sept. 9-10, 1933, in the South Platte River at 

Denver.

CITY OF DENVER

Report of the Cherry Creek Flood Commission, May 1913, Denver. 

OCCURRENCE OF FLOODS

Colorado was settled in the late 1850's, but before that time traders, hunters, and emigrants on the long trek to the Far West recorded 

floods, the earliest being those on the Arkansas and Republican Rivers 

in 1826. The next, which is believed to have been widespread, 

occurred in 1844 on the Arkansas River, and by inference on the South 

Platte River, also. Severe floods occurred on the Colorado River in 

1853 and on the Purgatoire River and San Juan River about 1859.

Since the settlement of Colorado the most disastrous flood occurred
OCCURRENCE OF FLOODS 5

on the Arkansas River in June 1921. This flood caused the loss of 

about 100 lives in Pueblo, and an estimated property loss of $19,000,- 

000 in the Arkansas Valley, of which the greater part was also sustained by Pueblo. This may not have been the greatest flood from 

the standpoint of volume, however, as some of the early floods apparently reached higher stages.

Single floods inundating large areas and causing heavy loss of life 

are rare in Colorado, but many floods of considerable magnitude have 

occurred, some of which caused loss of life and great property damage. 

Many of the areas flooded are shown in figure 1.

TOPOGRAPHIC ZONES

Colorado may be roughly divided from east to west into three 

zones: The eastern three-sevenths of the State, which occupies the 

western edge of the high plains and has a rolling topography; the 

central two-sevenths, made up of parallel ranges of the Rocky Mountains that attain their highest elevation in Colorado, and between 

which are high, relatively level areas known as mountain parks; and 

the western two-sevenths, made up in the northern part, of rolling 

hills, and in the central and southern parts, of the deeply eroded high 

plateaus that characterize much of the Colorado River Basin. This 

topography, because of its wide range, exerts a marked influence on 

the occurrence of floods.

INFLUENCE OF TOPOGRAPHY ON PRECIPITATION

During the spring and summer storms the chief source of moisture 

is the Gulf of Mexico. 1 The warm, moisture-laden air from the Gulf, 

being deflected upward by the Front Range, is cooled and precipitates 

its moisture not only on the Front Range but also on the adjacent 

plains area. Although the storms may continue westward, the 

remaining moisture is insufficient to produce heavy precipitation west 

of the Front Range, and does not cause floods on the streams in the 

mountain area. Very rarely, as in September 1909 and October 

1911, late summer and early fall storms bring in moisture-laden air 

from the Pacific Ocean, which being deflected upward by the mountain mass bordering the high plateau in the western part of the State, 

causes heavy rainfall in the southwestern part of the State and lesser 

amounts farther east.

During the winter the moisture comes chiefly from the Pacific 

Ocean; it is deflected upward by the western mountain chains and is 

precipitated in the form of snow, usually heaviest on the western 

slopes of the highest ranges and decreasing eastward. Along the

i Holzman, Benjamin, Sources of moisture for precipitation in the United States: U. S. Dept. Agr. Tech. 

Bull. 589, p. 24, 1937.
109° 108° 107°

108° 107° 106° 105° 

FIQXTBE 1. Map of Colorado showing principal river systems 
OCCURRENCE OF FLOODS 7

Front Range some precipitation, even in winter is caused by moisture 

from the Gulf. In general, however, the snowfall is heaviest on the 

western ranges, and its melting in June has a greater effect on the 

flow of the streams in that region than the melting of the snow over 

the eastern ranges has upon the streams draining the Front Range. 

In late spring, precipitation not only along the Front Range but also 

farther west sometimes augments the melting snow sufficiently to 

cause floods.

Precipitation in the plateau region is so light during the summer 

that floods rarely occur. East of the Front Range general precipitation is rarely sufficient to cause floods.

AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODS

From observation of the effect of topography on precipitation it is 

evident that floods occur most frequently on the eastern slope of the 

Front Range both in the South Platte and the Arkansas River Basins. 

In the mountains farther west precipitation is insufficient to cause 

floods, except during the period of melting snow in June. At that 

time the severity of the resulting floods is dependent not only on the 

rainfall but also, and to a greater degree, on the depth of snow cover 

and the rate of the seasonal rise in temperature. Hence, only floods 

caused by rainfall on melting mountain snow occur simultaneously 

throughout the greater part of the State. The most severe floods of 

record on the Rio Grande, South Platte, Colorado, and Gunmson 

Rivers have resulted from this cause, as have the outstanding floods 

that occurred before gaging-station records began. During the storm 

of June 2-7,1921, the combination of melting snow and rainfall caused 

severe floods on all the major rivers except the Arkansas. Over the 

Arkansas River Basin the storm, influenced by the topography, was 

concentrated in a series of cloudbursts in the foothills just east of 

Canon City. These cloudbursts caused the most severe flood on the 

Arkansas River ever recorded, and at a time when the water from 

melting snow from the higher areas was insignificant in amount.

The tributary streams in the South Platte and Arkansas River 

Basins are subject to heavy rains of cloudburst intensity which cause 

the cloudburst type of flood, the peak discharge of which is greater 

than that caused by rainfall during the period of melting snow. 

Whenever heavy rain occurs along the Front Range, particularly in 

the lower foothills, it is usually concentrated in cloudbursts at various 

points. The cloudburst flood flow is of such short duration, the peak 

lasting only a few minutes, and the total quantity of water during the 

flood is so small, that when it reaches a larger stream, channel storage 

quickly reduces it to a stage which is not a serious flood. This is 

well illustrated by the typical stage hydrographs shown in figure 2.
8 FLOODS IN COLORADO

3609

uj 'm61314
METHODS OF MEASURING FLOODS 9

In the southwestern part of the State the severest floods, and the 

only ones of record, have resulted from the storms of September 1909 

and October 1911. Precipitation during melting snow in June has 

been insufficient to cause floods as severe, except during June 1927 

when the resulting flood on the Animas River was more severe than 

that during September 1909.

In the North Platte River Basin the slight precipitation is not sufficient to cause floods. This basin includes North Park, a high, level 

area surrounded by mountain ranges, except at the lower end where 

rolling hills displace the mountains.

The Green River Basin in Colorado, in the northwestern part of the 

State, lies on the western slope of the Continental Divide, and is made 

up of rolling hills and some comparatively level country. The Yampa 

and White Rivers are the principal tributaries of the Green River. 

Here, as in the North Platte River Basin, the precipitation is insufficient to cause floods. The greatest flood of record in this part of 

Colorado was that of 1884, which was caused by rain at the time the 

very heavy snow cover was melting.

METHODS OF MEASURING FLOODS

For most of the earlier floods it has not been possible to estimate 

the actual discharge; the facilities and technique for making such 

estimates either had not been developed at the time these floods 

occurred or were not available for application.

Most of the later floods described have either been of such short 

duration as to make measurement of them impossible, or if of longer 

duration, as on the larger streams, they have destroyed the approaches 

to bridges and other means whereby they might have been measured. 

Few dams exist suitable for use as weirs in computing flood discharges, 

and the same is true of bridges suitable for use in computing the discharge by the contracted-opening method. Discharges for the major 

floods of longer duration that have occurred since the establishment 

of gaging stations have usually been estimated from the extension of 

the rating curves. However, some of these floods reached stages so 

far above stages of current-meter measurements that it was necessary 

to obtain slope-area measurements of the peak discharges in order to 

extend the rating curves. This was particularly true of the Arkansas 

River flood of June 1921, which overflowed large areas.

The only means by which most peak discharges could be measured 

for most of the floods described in this paper was by the slope-area 

method, which has been in use in Colorado since the early nineties. 

The procedure generally followed is to visit the stream soon after the 

flood, while the high-water marks are still visible, and select a straight, 

uniform reach as long as possible, up to 1,000 feet on the larger streams.
10 FLOODS IN COLORADO

The high-water slopes on both banks through the reach of river 

selected are measured, and the average of the two is taken as the slope 

during the flood peak. Cross sections of the channel to the highwater line are run at each end of the reach, and if the reach is long, a 

cross section between the two end sections is also run; the average of 

the cross sections^is used to compute the discharge by the Chezy 

formula, V=CVRS. The coefficients of roughness used in the computations are based both on judgment and on experiments made to 

determine them. If there is considerable difference in the areas of the 

upstream and downstream cross sections, it is necessary to consider 

the velocity head and to correct the slope of the water surface to the 

energy gradient.

METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS CAUSING MAJOR FLOODS

Meteorologic conditious preceding the floods of the late spring of 

1844, and of June 1864, May 1876, June 1884, May 30, 1894, and 

June 1921, the last named of which was the most widespread on record, 

are set forth in this report, as are also those of frequent occurrence that 

produced the floods of September 1909 and October 1911, which 

affected more than one large drainage area. Precipitation records 

of floods in any one basin are presented in connection with the description of those floods.

1844

The belief that floods were widespread during the spring of 1844 

as a result of heavy rains falling on a deep snow cover rests chiefly 

on circumstantial evidence. Settlers came to Pueblo and the upper 

Arkansas Valley in 1859, and reports were common among them 

concerning an Indian legend of a flood in which the water "reached 

from bluff to bluff" an expression commonly used in connection 

with legends about floods on western rivers. This circumstantial 

evidence was reinforced by the statement of Rockafellow,2 in his 

history of Fremont County, that a French trader named Maurice, 

who lived near the mouth of Adobe Creek, told the pioneers that 4 

feet of snow fell all over the valley in 1844 and lay there three "moons," 

from all of which it is surmised that the flood of Indian legend was 

in 1844, the year of the great flood at St. Louis. In that year the 

lower Arkansas River at Little Rock reached a stage of 32.6 feet, as 

compared with 34.6 feet in 1833, and 33.0 feet in 1927.3 Furthermore, 

a high-water mark of this flood at Pueblo was reputedly 12 feet higher 

than the high-water mark of the flood of 1921, the greatest flood of 

record there.4

i Rockafellow, B. F., History of Arkansas Valley, O. L. Baskin & Co., Chicago, 1881. 

» Arkansas River and tributaries: 74th Gong., 1st sess., H. Doc. 308, vol. 1, p. 56,1936. 

4 Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., The Arkansas River flood of June 3-5,1921: U. S. Geological Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 487, pp. 35-36, 1922.
METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS 11

The evidence of a flood in the South Platte River Basin the same 

year rests on the diaries of Clyman,5 who left Independence Mo., 

on May 14, 1844, on his way to Oregon. He records almost daily 

rains and floods from that time until July 10, when the party crossed 

the Divide from the Kansas River to the Platte River near the present 

site of Grand Island, Nebr. The latter stream was "as high or higher 

than the Kansas," which he had previously described as being very 

high. The Kansas River had its highest flood of record during the 

spring of 1844, the stage at Topeka being about 2 feet higher than that 

reached in 190S.6 More specific data regarding the flood in the South 

Platte River Basin is contained in a letter written by Antoine Janis, 

a French trapper on the Cache la Poudre River near the present site 

of Laporte. Ansel Watrous,7 an early historian of Larimer County, 

quotes from this letter as follows:

On the first day of June 1844, I stuck my stake on a claim in the valley. 

* * * At that time the streams were all very high.

Further data, also indirect in character, refer to a great flood in 

the vicinity of Denver. Albert B. Sanford, curator of the State 

Historical Society Museum, in an article in the Colorado Magazine, 

May 1927, quotes a statement made in 1864 by the editor of the 

Rocky Mountain News:

Mr. Byers told the writer of an old Indian who * * * solemnly warned of 

"heap big water" such as he had seen cover the whole bottom lands "so," and he 

held his hands above his head.

In further confirmation of the flood of Indian legend, an unsigned 

article in the Denver Commonwealth, June 22, 1864, reads in part:

In the summer of 1861 we ware one of Lieut. Berthoud's exploring party to and 

from Salt Lake City. Major James Bridger, one of the most thorough practical 

explorers in the West, was guide on that trip. * * * He proceeded to tell 

us that many years ago while on a journey from Fort Laramie to some other 

point, he found the entire bottoms of Cherry Creek and [South] Platte River 

covered between the extreme bluffs of the two, which compelled him to remain on 

the opposite bank from [the present site of] this city 9 days before he was able to 

effect a crossing.

As the article quoted described Bridger as an old man in 1861, he 

would have been active in 1844, and as no other reference is known 

concerning a great flood in the South Platte River Basin prior to 1844, 

it is believed Bridger's reference was to the flood of that year.

The references to deep snow in the Arkansas River Valley and to 

continuous rain in the Platte River Basin lead to the conclusion that

5 James Clyman's diaries and memoranda of a journey through the far West, 1844 to 1846, Book I, California Hist. Soc., 1928.

 Kansas River, Colo., Nebr., and Kans.: 73d Cong., 2d sess., H. Doc. 195, pp. 38-39, 1934.

7 Watrous, Ansel, History of Larimer County, Conner Printing & Publishing Co., Fort Colllns, Colo., 

1911.
12 FLOODS IN COLORADO

the winter of 1843-44 was one of heavy snowfall and that rain occurred 

during the period of melting snow, thus causing severe floods in 

Colorado. The absence of white settlers in other sections of Colorado 

accounts for the lack of references to high water in those sections. Itis probable that the heavy snow cover was widespread and that high 

water occurred on most of the mountain streams.

JUNE 1864

The evidence of severe floods in June 1864 rests on more complete 

information, as permanent settlements had then been made in the 

South Platte and Arkansas River Basins.

In his history of Colorado, Gen. Frank Hall 8 records the following:

The summer of 1863 was marked by a protracted drought which dried up the 

streams, and prevented the growth of crops in the limited area then cultivated. 

* * * Earlier than usual, about the middle of October, one of the severest 

winters ever known in this latitude set in, with frequent heavy snows, and very 

cold weather. Those who had stock on the range lost it; supply trains were 

blockaded and many abandoned. * * *

In the following spring the great masses of snow melted, flooded rivers, and 

expelled the miners. Rains succeeding, torrents poured down the mountain slopes 

upon the hapless residents, sweeping in some cases, their homes from their foundations, and filling others with mud and debris. In the valleys many ranches were 

overwhelmed, covered with sand and well-nigh destroyed.

Watrous 9 in his history of Larimer County, stated:

A great body of snow fell in the winter of 1863-64, filling the gulches and ravines 

to a depth of several feet and the snow was from 4 to 6 feet deep in the timber 

on the hillsides. From the barren mountain tops above timberline the snow had 

blown off into the timber, gulches, and ravines where it became packed and hard 

as an ice bed, almost. The foothills near the plains held the snow in place, preventing it from drifting, so that back in the hills there was a great quantity of 

water-making material.

Watrous wrote particularly of Larimer County and of the Cache la 

Poudre River, describing the high water caused by melting snow 

augmented by "an extraordinary rainstorm" in the mountainous part 

of the basin, June 9, 1864. He said further:

The storm which brought on the flood was general in the northern part of the 

Territory, and Denver, the Boulder, St. Vrain, and Big Thompson valleys suffered 

severely from its effects.

The Central City Daily Miners Register, May 10, 1864, stated:

Just 8 months [ago] fell the snow which marked out the beginning of the present 

winter season. From that time until today the [snow] storms have taken the lead 

on the general make-up of the winter's character. This is the most extraordinary 

epoch known in the history of Colorado's climate.

The Register of May 18, refers to the rainstorm of the "past few 

days" and the melting snow on the higher hilltops.

8 Hall, Frank, History of the State of Colorado, vol. 1, p. 306, Blakely Printing Co., Chicago, 1889. 

6 Watrous, Ansel, op. cit. p., 212.
METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS 13

In the Arkansas River Basin a severe flood occurred on June 11, 

1864. The meager information at hand indicates that heavy rain 

fell just before that date, and although the heavy snow cover was 

melting, it is possible that the flood was due primarily to cloudbursts, 

as was the flood of 1921.

MAY 21-23, 1876

The storm of May 21-23, 1876, caused floods in the South Platte 

River Basin and on Fountain Creek, which drains the foothills region 

from Pikes Peak to the Arkansas River. The storm extended as far 

north as the Cache la Poudre River. The Greeley Tribune of May 

24, 1876, reported:

The rainstorm which began on Sunday night [May 21] and continued with 

but little intermission till late on Monday night, was the severest since the settlement of the valley at least 4 inches of water fell during the 24 hours, and threefourths of an inch in 2 hours on Monday evening after dark.

Hail fell at Fort Collins during the recent heavy rains, to a depth in places 

of a foot.

Precipitation during this storm was recorded at nine stations in 

Colorado as shown in the following table.

Precipitation, in inches, in the South Platte River Basin, May 21 23, 1876

Station Altitude 

(feet)

5,283

5,799

14,111

6,098

3,899

3,910

7,996

9,400

6,633

May 21

0.03

1.33

May 22

i 6.50

1.37

3.19

May 23

0.20

1 80

Tr.

.32

Total

6.73

3.19

2.74

.32

2.16

.00

.00

1 Greatest 24-hour precipitation recorded at Denver.

2 Total for month.

From the meager information available it appears that the storm 

was heaviest in Denver and the Pikes Peak region. The weather 

maps show that a deep low (29.2 inches) developed over the southeastern part of Colorado and the northeastern part of New Mexico, 

and a high (30.4 inches) just north of the Great Lakes. Probably 

associated with this low was a mass of moist air from the Gulf which 

was forced upward by the Front Range, causing heavy precipitation. 

As the precipitation was partly in the form of snow, especially on 

Pikes Peak, the resulting floods were less severe than they would have 

been had the heavy precipitation occurred later in the year when 

higher temperatures prevailed.

755376 47 2
14 FLOODS IN COLORADO

JUNE 1884

By 1884, settlements had been made in all parts of Colorado, and 

references to the deep snow cover, heavy rain and high discharge of 

streams in different parts of the State are more numerous than in 1864.

In the South Platte River Basin the record at the recently established gaging station on the Cache la Poudre River shows that the 

discharge during 1884 was far above average, indicating run-off from 

deep snow cover. Precipitation records at Denver and Fort Collins, 

both in the South Platte Valley, show that precipitation for the period 

October 1, 1883, to April 30, 1884, was nearly 60 percent above 

normal.

The Georgetown Courier, May 1, 1884, reported:

People who have resided in this section for 20 years say that the past winter 

and spring months have been the worst in their recollection.

And in its issue of May 15, 1884, the Courier stated:

The road to Middle Park over Berthoud Pass [head of Clear Creek] will be 

opened for travel soon. * * * It will be quite a job, for the snow now lies, 

jn places, to the depth of 30 or 40 feet.

In the Arkansas River Basin, the Canon City Record of May 3, 

1884, in describing the trip of a signal-service employee from Pikes 

Peak to Colorado Springs, says that he "plodded his way through 

snow 20 and 30 feet deep." It was reported that the snow on the 

trail was the deepest known since the establishment of the weather 

station on Pikes Peak in 1873.

The Pueblo Commercial Standard of June 28, 1884, stated:

The Fountain at Pueblo was wide, swift, and deep on Thursday [June 26] and 

swept away both the wagon bridges on Fifth Street and the Denver and Rio 

Grande Railroad bridge.

Although no reference to the cause of this flood is made, its occurrence coincides within a few days with that of the flood peak caused 

by the rain and melting snow in other basins. At Pueblo, east of the 

foothills, the precipitation from January 1 to April 30, 1884, was 62 

percent above normal.

In the Rio Grande Basin numerous references to high water appeared 

in the Del Norte San Juan Prospector, but no statements were made 

regarding the actual snow cover. W. D. Carroll of Alamosa, states 

that on Cumbres Pass, a region of heavy snowfall, the snow cover 

during the winter of 1883-84 reached to the wires on the telegraph 

poles, which were from 20 to 25 feet high. The San Juan Prospector, 

June 21, 1884, states that on June 14, 1884, heavy rain fell in the 

mountains for 12 to 20 hours.

In the Colorado River Basin, references to snow cover are more 

numerous. The Gunnison Press Review stated that on May 7, 1884,
METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS 15

the mining camp Frisco, on the headwaters of the Blue River, was 

still snowbound. At Kokomo, at a higher altitude in the same basin, 

it was reported that 80 feet of snow fell during the winter, measurements having been made after each storm. Judge John L. Noonan, 

of Colorado Springs, crossing Independence Pass at the head of Roaring Fork early in July 1884, found drifts 12 to 15 feet deep.10 The 

Gunnison Press Review on May 9, 1884, referred to the "unprecedented snowfall and the late spring," stating that in the valley near 

Crested Butte the snow was 2 to 2% feet deep, and in the streets at 

Gothic it was 5 feet deep. The Gothic Record referred to the "unheard of snows of the present spring," and stated that the mountains 

were covered with 10 to 15 feet of snow. At Evans sawmill, the exact 

location of which is unknown, the snow was 10 to 12 feet deep. From 

old settlers interviewed in connection with a previous study of the 

upper Colorado River u it was learned that the early snowfall had 

been unusually heavy, and that this was followed in April by a snow 

which was \% feet deep in the valley .near Delta. Stockmen were 

unable to take their cattle to the summer range in the mountains 

until July.

The Colorado Springs Gazette of June 28, 1884, contained the 

following item from Crested Butte:

On the night of June 12 we had a severe rainstorm which, on top of the warm 

weather, converted the mountain streams into torrents of water and sent them 

booming down the streams.

The San Juan Prospector reported that Rico, in the San Juan 

region, had suffered greatly from the heavy snows of the past winter, 

and that 64 feet of snow had fallen at the Sunbright Cabin on Mount 

Wilson. The only record of precipitation in southwestern Colorado 

during the winter of 1883-84 was at Fort Lewis, in a valley in the 

San Juan River Basin. That record showed a total precipitation for 

the period October 1, 1883, to April 30, 1884, 40 percent above normal.

No reference has been found to the snow cover in the White and 

Little Snake River Basins, but settlers in both basins have stated that 

those rivers reached their highest known stage during June 1884 

and remained at high stages nearly all summer.

MAY 29-JUNE 1, 1894

The storm of May 29-June 1, 1894, which caused widespread floods 

in the South Platte and Arkansas River Basins, is the earliest floodproducing storm for which more than a few rainfall records are available. It was associated with a large area of low pressure (29.4 inches)

1° Follansbee, Robert, Upper Colorado River and its utilization: U. S. Geol. Survey, Water-Supply Paper 

617, p. 152, 1929. 

»Idem.
16 FLOODS IN COLORADO

over Nevada, and an area of high pressure (30.1 inches) over northern 

Minnesota and the western edge of the Great Lakes. The following 

table shows the precipitation at stations in these basins, listed from 

north to south, for the period May 29 to June 1, 1894.

Rainfall, in inches, along the foothills and Front Range, May 29 to June 1, 1894-

Station

South Platte River Basin:

Fort Collins_.__ ______ _ _______ _ ___

Gold Hill....... ______________________

Como (South Fark)_________ __________

Arkansas River Basin:

Pueblo __..___ _ ____ _ __ ____

Altitude

(feet)

5,053

4,985

5,000

7,775

9,300

9,300

8,630

6,201

10, 228

9,785

6,960

14,111

6.540

6,500

6,098

5,343

4,685

8.700

May 29

.04

.17

.50

Tr.

.02

.08

.08

.75

.50

May 30

0.50

.07

.30

4.65

2.75

.62

2.84

1.34

1.65

1.17

3. 13

2.95

4.31

1.38

.30

May 31

3.30

5.00

2.30

1.06

2.50

2.65

.88

2.15

.68

.82

1.33

.84

1.58

2.00

1.44

1.64

.40

June 1

1.74

.12

.04

.01

.32

.15

.50

.16

Total

0.77

.11

.47

3.30

5.00

5.83

5.75

fi 05

2.84

2.02

2.49

6.66

2.41

4.86

7.50

4.97

5.06

3. 18

1.20

The only station at which precipitation was recorded farther west 

in the Arkansas River Basin was Twin Lakes (altitude 9,200 feet), 

which had a total precipitation of 1.44 inches for the period.

In the storm of 1894 there were two areas of heavy precipitation 

the Pikes Peak region and the eastern slope of the Front Range west 

of Boulder. The Front Range here forms the Continental Divide, 

and the area of heaviest recorded precipitation was about 10 miles 

east of the Divide, where the mountains rise more steeply both on 

their eastern and western slopes than elsewhere, an.d the topography 

is somewhat analogous to the abrupt slopes of the Pikes Peak region. 

West of the Front Range the rainfall was very much less, being 

less than 1 inch at every station except Climax, near the Continental 

Divide, which rises abruptly from the western end of South Park, 

a comparatively level expanse that extends eastward to the Front 

RangeMelting snow was a less important factor in causing high water in 

this flood than in 1921, as the snow cover was slightly less than normal.

SEPTEMBER 3-6, 1909

The storm of September 3-6, 1909, like that of October 4-6, 1911, 

affected chiefly the southwestern part of the State and was similar in 

character. It was less severe than the storm of October 1911 in the
METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS 17

"San Juan region but more severe in the other parts of the State, probably as a result of a mass of moisture-laden air deflected upward by 

the Front Range, where the heaviest precipitation outside the San 

Juan region occurred. Depth of precipitation at the four stations 

outside the San Juan region at which it was greatest was as follows:

Inches 

Boulder,__________________________________-"- 3. 97

Hawthorne.--_---------------_--__----_-___--___--____ 3. 41

Colorado Springs.--_-____--_-________---_________._____ 2. 66

Santa Clara___-_-____________________________________ 5. 25

Rainfall was general throughout the State, but was much less in 

amount at other stations than at those just listed. The following table 

.gives the amounts at stations in the San Juan region.

Rainfall, in inches, in the San Juan region, Sept. 3-6, 1909

Station Altitude 

(feet)

7, 035

7,610

6,589

7,200

8,300

9,400

10, 400

7,108

6,425

10, 000

6,942

7,500

Sept. 3

0.29

.15

.04

.30

23

.10

.13

.35

.18

Tr.

.13

.27

Sept. 4

0.04

.04

.37

.15

.34

.08

.17

.18

.30

.04

.19

.10

.18

Sept. 5

0.99

1.99

1.64

2.52

2.90

2.48

2.00

1.81

1.40

.50

.11

.41

.79

Sept. 6

0.42

.67

.82

.64

.85

.84

.65

.42

.47

.37

.17

.48

.37

Total

1.74

2.85

2.87

3.61

4.32

3.fO

2.95

2 76

2.35

.91

.60

.99

1.61

OCTOBER 4-6, 1911

The severest flood of record in the southwestern part of the State 

was caused by the storm of October 4-6, 1911, which followed a 

summer during which the precipitation was above normal. The daily 

weather maps show that on October 4 a low of 29.7 inches developed 

over western Nevada, and moved with increasing intensity over 

central Arizona, reaching 29.45 inches on October 5. At that time a 

high of 30.3 inches had developed over the Great Lakes. As the season 

was early fall, the moist winds from the Pacific had high temperatures. 

These winds were deflected upward by the mountain masses in the 

.southwestern part of the State, causing intense precipitation. By 

October 6, the low had moved northwestward over Iowa, passing over 

the southeastern part of Colorado, and precipitation had practically 

 ceased in Colorado.

The following table indicates the influence of the mountains on 

precipitation in the San Juan region.
18 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Precipitation, in inches, in the San Juan region, Sept. %% to Oct. 2 and Oct. 4~8,1911

Station

Exposed to southwest:

Gladstone.. ................................

Cumbres ...................................

Sheltered from southwest:

Rico... _____________________ .

Northeastern slope of San Juan Mountains:

Altitude 

(feet)

7,610

6,589

8,300

8,900

9,400

10,400

7,108

10,015

7,035

10,000

8,824

8,756

7,500

9,800

9,610

9,800

Total 

Sept. 22- 

Oct. 2

1.75

3.60

5.36

3.80

5.04

2.04

4.15

3. 99

1.11

2.03

3.26

3.69

2.55

.99

1.78

Oct. 4

1.16

.72

.19

.20

.11

.15

3.08

.08

.37

.02

.50

.21

.71

.05

Oct. 5

2.30

2.26

2.80

2.40

405

8.05

3.67

1.26

1.54

.47

1.71

1.57

2.00

2.16

1.94

3.25

Oct. 6

0.58

.13

Tr.

.49

.15

.20

.01

.08

.04

Total 

Oct. 4-6

2.88

3.42

3.52

2.72

4.25

8.16

3.82

4.83

1.62

.47

2.23

1.79

£51

2.45

2.65

3.34

The San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado are much 

higher than any mountains southwest of them, hence the moist air 

was deflected upward and, on cooling, deposited much of its moisture 

in that region. The amount of precipitation was influenced not 

only by altitude but by the degree of exposure to the storm. Mancos 

is sheltered by Mesa Verde; and Eureka, although on the south 

slope of the San Juan Mountains, is in a deep, narrow valley cut off 

by high mountains.

North and east of the San Juan Mountains the precipitation was 

much less, averaging about 1.5 inches for October 4-6, except along 

the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which form the eastern boundary 

of the San Luis Valley. The part of the San Juan Mountains forming 

the western boundary of the valley is not as wide as the northern 

part in the Silverton region and caused less loss of moisture from the 

air crossing that part. Consequently, when the air currents reached 

the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and were deflected upward, heavy 

precipitation resulted. Although no rainfall records for the western 

slope are available, there is evidence of severe floods on all streams 

draining that slope, indicating heavy rainfall. At Hermit Lake, 

at an altitude of 10,000 feet on the eastern slope just below the crest, 

the precipitation October 4-6 was 3.68 inches. At La Veta Pass 

it was 2.01 inches.

The only other record of precipitation in the State that exceeded 

2 inches for the period October 4-6, 1911, was 2.35 inches at Marble, 

at an altitude of 7,950 feet on the north slope of the Elk Mountains, 

a high mountain mass somewhat west of the central part of the State.
METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS 19

JUNE 2-7, 1921

The general storm of June 2-7, 1921, was the only storm of record 

that caused severe floods and unusually high water in nearly all parts 

of Colorado. The daily weather maps for the first week in June 1921 

show that an area of high pressure exceeding 30.5 inches appeared 

June 1 over the Province of Alberta. By June 2 it had displaced a 

low pressure area over the upper Missouri Valley, and on June 3 it 

was over Manitoba and the northern part of North Dakota. Between 

June 3 and 4 the movement of the high pressure area was very slow, 

and it advanced only as far as northeastern Minnesota. By June 5 

it had reached a point over the Great Lakes.

During this period an area of low pressure, 29.7 inches, had developed over western Arizona and remained over the southern Rocky 

Mountain plateau for several days.12 Warm, moist air from the 

southern States and the Gulf of Mexico was drawn into the lowpressure area. When this moist air met the cold front from the north 

it was forced upward, and being cooled, its moisture was released as 

precipitation. The effect of the cold front was increased by the 

foothills, especially in the vicinity of Pikes Peak, which is a semidetached mountain mass rising abruptly from the plains.

The following table shows the rainfall during the period June 2-7 

along the foothills and the Pikes Peak region. Stations are listed 

from north to south.

Rainfall, in inches, along foothills and Pikes Peak region in South Platte and 

Arkansas River Basins, June 2-71 1921

Station

South Platte River Basin:

Morrison. __ ...... _ ___ . _ _ __ ... ....

Elk Creek................... ................

Castle Rock ___________________

Cheesman _____________ ______ .

Arkansas River Basin:

Victor.......................................

Trinidad.. __ . ______ . ................

Alti-

(feet)

5,053

4,985

5,206

4,950

5,347

6,000

5,450

6,120

5,492

8,140

6,201

6,890

8,500

7,200

10,265

8,836

10,100

6,098

4,685

5,343

5,994

2

0.66

.24

.07

.31

.01

.23

.14

.23

.06

.34

.06

.16

1.94

3

0.47

1.07

1.56

4.40

.14

.56

2.15

.40

.17

1.20

2.78

.10

1.10

.65

2.53

.03

2 23

1.64

.30

.20

Ju

4

1.88

1.46

1.88

.45

1.19

.50

.45

1.98

3.51

2.15

.50

2.22

.80

2.90

3.68

2.61

2.08

2.00

1.12

2.35

.55

ne

5

0.47

.25

.52

.44

.71

.20

.48

1.60

.52

.95

Tr.

1.07

.10

.82

1.40

1.43

1.55

.09

.75

.30

6

0.26

.02

.24

.48

.61

.30

.60

.40

.36

.58

.18

.49

.90

.05

.18

.48

.37

.01

.40

Tr.

7

0.60

.61

.05

.40

.17

.05

.37

.15

.47

.75

.20

.20

.40

Tr.

.03

.01

.15

.27

Total

3.74

3.64

4.88

5.82

3.36

1.74

3.73

4.98

4.85

5.58

4,27

4.42

3.10

4.23

6.91

7.08

4.04

4.39

4.95

3.80

1.32

' Corrected record.

" Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., The Arkansas River flood of June 3-5, 1921: U. 8. Oeol. 

Survey, Water-Supply Paper 487, pp. 11-12,1922.
20 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Along the Front Range back of the foothills the precipitation was 

generally less, except at Silver Lake where a total of 10.88 inches 

was reported. The following table shows the precipitation in that area.

Rainfall, in inches, along the Front Range back of the foothills, June 2-7, 1921

South Platte River Basin:

Arkansas River Basin:

Alti-

(feet)

7,500

8,000

8,956

10, 200

7,543

9,242

8,200

8,700

6,364

2

0.20

.50

.40

.14

3

0.67

.28

.25

.18

.55

.20

.98

2.00

.23

Ju

4

0.04

1.12

1.55

1.30

60

1.16

.89

.86

.55

.64

ne

5

0.20

.45

1.00

.59

.21

.18

.54

6

.20

.35

2.00

.76

.32

.20

.12

.10

7

0.70

.20

.30

3.00

.20

.42

.53

.25

Total

1.71

2.45

3.95

'6.88

1.91

2.07

1.61

3.26

1.76

i Rainfall, June 8,1921, 4 inches reported, making a total of 10.88 inches for the storm period.

The Pikes Peak uplift not only was responsible for the highest 

recorded precipitation, but by its practically isolated position it deflected the moist air currents into the upper basin of the Arkansas 

River east of Canon City, where the storm took the form of a series 

of cloudbursts in a small area. These cloudbursts were the sole cause 

of the flood of June 3-5, 1921, on the Arkansas River, 13 as the river 

above Canon City was not at high stage, and the foothill region did 

not contain any appreciable amount of snow.

A few days later the highest flood of record on the upper South 

Platte River occurred, with floods on its principal mountain tributaries. These floods were caused not only by the heavy precipitation 

of the storm, but also by the melting of the mountain snows. During 

April the snowfall had been unusually heavy, about three times its 

normal depth for that month, and this late snow, being loose, melted 

rapidly under the influence of the rain and the high temperature that 

prevailed after the storm. Temperature records are not available for 

points at the higher altitudes, but the temperature, although cooler, 

varies generally with that on the plains. The temperature records 

at Denver are shown in the following table.

Maximum and minimum temperatures at Denver, June 1-13, 1921

June

I.......-.- ...... ...

2........ ..............

3...-. ..........

4..... _- . . 

5 . _ ... _ ..

6....... ...............

7......... .............

Maximum 

(°F.)

76

65

73

64

64

59

66

Minimum 

(°F.)

54

53

53

47

53

53

54

June

8- ...... .... ....

9_ .................

10 

11 

12 

13 . 

Maximum 

(°F.)

73

81

86

80

85

Minimum

(°F.)

54

56

58

61

61

61

« Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., op. cit., p. 12.
METEOROLOGIC CONDITIONS 21

Although precipitation was general throughoutfthe State, it was 

much less in the Rio Grande and Colorado River Basins, as shown in 

the following table.

Rainfall, in inches, in the Rio Grande, Colorado River, and Gunnison River Basins,

June 3-7, 1921

Station

Kio Grande Basin:

Del Norte... ......... ........

Nast. 

Rifle. 

Altitude 

(feet)

7,576

7 700

7,868

9,800

10, 115

9,610

8,671

8,800

8,800

9,483

6,120

5,823

5,310

Total rainfall

1.51

1.16

1.18

1.13

.20

.16

1.21

1.02

.43

1.23

2.50

1.21

1.31

.99

Station

Colorado River Basin Con.

Delta 

Altitude 

(feet)

6,000

4,729

4,602

4,590

9,180

7,670

8,925

8,867

9,350

6,925

5,694

6,600

5,811

6,175

5,025

Total rainfall

0.95

.79

.39

.59

1.72

1.47

1.05

1.20

1.63

2.04

1.16

.65

1.04

1.12

1.02

In the San Juan region the rainfall was about 1.5 inches. This 

slight increase over the rainfall in the Rio Grande and Colorado River 

Basins was doubtless due to moisture from the Pacific Ocean drawn 

in by the low-pressure area over Arizona. In the northwestern part 

of the State the recorded rainfall ranged from 0.19 inch at Yampa, in 

the mountains, near the head of the Yampa River Basin, to 1.60 inches 

at Lay, farther west in the plateau region.

Immediately west of the Continental Divide on the north and the 

Sangre de Cristo Range on the south, the April precipitation was more 

than twice the normal, but the snowfall decreased westward, being 

normal or slightly below normal in the western part of the State. In 

the San Juan region, however, the April snowfall was about 150 percent of normal, except at Telluride, where it was 250 percent. Therefore, the floods resulting from the precipitation, snow cover, and rise 

in temperature (the latter being similar to that at Denver), were not 

so severe as those in the South Platte and Arkansas River Basins, and 

should be termed more correctly unusually high "June rises." The 

causes of the floods in June 1921 have been described at length, as 

they typify the various factors that in combination cause a majority 

of the floods in Colorado.

It will be noted that the general storms causing floods have occurred 

most frequently during the later part of May and the early part of 

June. According to meteorologists of the Weather Bureau, this is 

due principally to the fact that it is during that season over the great 

interior of the North American continent that the temperature con-
22 FLOODS IN COLORADO

trast between the surface air and the upper air is the greatest. The 

upper air is still very cold to the north, but the surface air has begun 

to heat up rapidly toward the south. This maximum contrast in 

temperature causes the heaviest general precipitation.

CLOTJDBTTBSTS

A type of storm confined chiefly to the eastern foothills region 

below an altitude of about 7,500 feet and extending eastward from the 

mountains for a distance of about 50 miles, is the so-called cloudburst, 

which is a rainfall of great intensity confined to a very small area and 

lasting usually a very short time. The intensity of cloudbursts is 

indicated by two incidents reported on reliable authority. The first 

occurred during the cloudburst that caused the Bear Creek flood of 

July 25, 1896. The daughter of a rancher was riding on Green Mountain, looking after the stock, when the storm started. By the time 

she reached the barn she was practically unconscious on her horse, 

and had to be revived by means used for resuscitating victims of 

drowning, as the intensity of the rain made it almost impossible for 

her to breathe. The other incident occurred during the series of cloudbursts that caused the Arkansas River flood of June 3, 1921; a horse 

was drowned in an open field.

Cloudbursts occur only where there is a marked range in temperature within a relatively small area. This condition exists chiefly in the 

foothills, where the warm air from the plains drifts toward the mountains, is deflected upward, and cools rapidly at the higher altitudes 

near the heads of the canyons. For this reason cloudbursts generally 

occur in the afternoon or early evening of an unusually warm day. 

On rare occasions rainfall of cloudburst intensity occurs as far east as 

the eastern edge of the State. An outstanding example was the storm 

of May 30-31, 1935, which took the form of a series of cloudbursts 

along the path extending from the Pikes Peak region to the ColoradoNebraska State line in the Republican River Basin. At the higher 

altitudes the differences in temperature are usually insufficient and the 

mass of warm air too small to cause cloudbursts, 14 although on rare 

occasions they have occurred at high altitudes during unusually warm 

weather.

PRECIPITATION RECOKDS

Cloudbursts cover such small areas that only rarely have they 

occurred where the rainfall could be measured at a Weather Bureau 

station; moreover, within these small areas the depth of precipitation

» Follansbee, Robert, and Hodges, P. V., Some floods In the Eocky Mountain region: U. S. Qeol. 

Survey Water-Supply Paper 520, p. 107, 1925.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 23

varies greatly within short distances. Fortunately, the local residents 

are "cloudburst-conscious," and frequently measure the precipitation 

of cloudburst storms by means of various receptacles standing on 

their premises. Although many such records may not have a high 

 degree of accuracy, they are of value in that they constitute the only 

record of the intense rainfall that causes the cloudburst floods. A 

field search in connection with investigations of floods frequently 

brings such records to light. An experience of the senior author 

indicates the wide variations in rainfall within a comparatively short 

distance. On August 11,1936, the Weather Bureau station in Denver 

recorded 1.35 inches of rainfall. Three miles distant, at the author's 

residence, a bucket in an open space was nearly filled during that 

storm, indicating a rainfall of at least 6% inches after allowance was 

made for the slightly flaring sides. Other evidence showed that the 

precipitation was much greater in that vicinity than at the Weather 

Bureau station.

MAJOR FLOODS 

SOUTH PLATTE RIVER

The headwaters of the South Platte Eiver have their sources in the 

mountainous region surrounding the large basin near the center of the 

State, known as South Park, and in the long eastern slopes of the high 

mountains forming the Continental Divide. The general course of 

the stream is eastward to Lake George, thence through Platte Canyon 

northward to its junction with the Cache la Poudre Eiver near Greeley, and thence eastward again to its junction with the North Platte 

Eiver at North Platte, Nebr.

Beyond Platte Canyon the South Platte Eiver emerges from the 

foothills and flows across the plains in a shallow valley for a distance 

of 190 miles to the Colorado-Nebraska State line. Through the canyon the river has an average fall of 55 feet to the mile, but across the 

plains the fall decreases from 15 to 7 feet per mile. The South Platte 

Eiver is rarely subject to floods above the canyon section, although 

the general storm of June 2-7, 1921, caused a flood that did serious 

damage. Below the canyon the river is subject to floods, caused chiefly 

by the tributary streams draining the Front Eange, and rarely by the 

tributaries from the plains area.

The floods in the South Platte Eiver Basin described in this report 

were on tributaries that drain the eastern slope of the Front Eange 

of the Eocky Mountains, with the exception of Cherry, Kiowa, and 

Bijou Creeks, which are plains streams.

Gaging stations have been maintained at the following points on the 

South Platte Eiver in the areas subject to floods:
24 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Gaging stations on South Platte River

Station

South Platte........... ....

Denver _____________

Kersey... ....................

Sublette ....... ..............

Drainage 

area (square 

miles)

2,550

2,620

3,840

4,740

5,070

9,500

12,900

17,700

20,600

Period of record

May 1895 to date.

May to September 1906; April 1929 to date.

April 1901 to October 1903; March 1905 to date.

April 1926 to date.

1844

The earliest flood for which circumstantial evidence is available 

occurred in 1844, at which time the bottom lands in the vicinity of 

Denver were covered with water from bluff to bluff.

1864

The first direct mention in written reports or articles concerning 

floods on the South Platte River relates to the floods of 1864. Three 

separate floods occurred during May and June of that year. The first^ 

originating in the Cherry Creek and Plum Creek Basins, occurred 

during the nights of May 19-20 and was caused primarily by a cloudburst in the upper part of those basins. It was the severest flood of 

record on Cherry Creek, but the newspapers at that time did not 

mention the flood on the South Platte River itself. The Cherry Creek 

Flood Commission in its report 15 states:

This storm extended over the water shed of Plum Creek also, which discharged' 

into the South Platte River [above Denver], making an unprecedented height. 

The two floods came together in Denver on the morning of the 20th, covering the 

lower portions of the city with water to a depth of from 1 to 5 feet leaving great 

deposits of sand and gravel. * * * At that time a large portion of the city 

was constructed directly within and near the bed of Cherry Creek and the South 

Platte River bottoms.

The only reference to the flood below Denver is contained in an 

unpublished article written in 1925 by Lyman E. Bishop, of Denver, 

which states that an old resident of Platteville, who was living on the 

bank of the river near Platteville during that flood, told him that the 

May flood covered his barnyard to a depth of 8 feet and that no subsequent flood had even reached the barnyard.

The Denver Weekly Commonwealth of June 1, 1864, stated that 

the heavy rains of May 26 and 27 caused the South Platte River to 

overflow both banks. Severe rains again fell on June 9 and 10, and 

the Commonwealth of June 10 stated:

The [South] Platte contains at the present time an immense body of water 

which spreads from bluff to bluff either way. Numerous * * * ranches,.

« Report of Cherry Creek Flood Commission, Denver, 1913.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 25

indeed every one along the river, so far as heard from, are entirely out of sight 

* * * the great deluge has come and destroyed nearly all except the buildings 

above.

Above Denver the South Platte River overflowed its banks and 

covered the adjacent low-lying lands. This rise was caused by the 

heavy rains and melting snow in the mountains.

The rain was particularly severe in the South Platte Kiver Basin 

abo ve the mouth of the canyon, some 20 miles southwest of Denver. No 

direct references to a flood at this time on the South Platte River 

below Denver have been found, probably because settlement was very 

sparse along the river; but a number of references to floods in tributary 

streams have been recorded. It is evident that the flood at Denver 

was augmented through its later course by floods on tributary streams, 

at least as far as the mouth of the Cache la Poudre River, the lowest 

mountain tributary, and probably by floods on the plains tributaries 

farther east, as the rainstorm was apparently general. So far as 

known, however, no estimate of the discharge of any of the floods of 

1864 in the South Platte River Basin has ever been made.

1867

The Rocky Mountain News, Denver, May 20, 1867, stated that 

both Cherry Creek and the South Platte River were in flood, and that 

it was estimated that the South Platte was carrying more water than 

during the flood of 1864. The flood of 1864 had so increased the channel capacity of the South Platte River that the flood of 1867 did not 

overflow its banks.

1876

The next flood noted was that of May 22-23, 1876, which resulted 

from precipitation on mountain snow. The Rocky Mountain News 

of May 23, 1876, describing this flood, stated:

The [South] Platte appeared to get the start of "Old Cherry" [Cherry Creek] and 

by the middle of the afternoon was sloshing around the cottonwoods in the bottoms. * * * The [South] Platte has never since the memorable freshet of 

1864 run so high and wide as on yesterday. It was higher to be sure several feet 

higher perhaps in 1864 but it was not able to work such destruction at that time 

as now. There wasn't so much town here in 1864 as now, nor as many bridges.

1894

Concerning the flood caused by the storm of May 29 to June 1, 

1894 the Denver Republican of June 2, 1894, stated:

At 7 o'clock yesterday morning the [South] Platte River at the canyon station 

of the Citizens Water Works was 5 feet above the ordinary mark. The river 

continued at this height for 5 hours and at 12 o'clock it began to fall, * * * 

At 9 o'clock last night it had gone down 3 inches.

The diversion dam of the Highline Canal, located in the canyon 

section, was in substantially the same condition during the flood of
26 FLOODS IN COLORADO

1894 that it is at present. H. L. Potts, engineer of the Denver 

Water Board, computed the flow over this dam under a head of 5 

feet as about 4,500 second-feet. Taking this as the peak flow, the 

mean for the 24-hour period is estimated at about 3,500 second-feet. 

At Denver, the Kocky Mountain News, June 1 and 2, 1894, stated 

that the South Platte River rose 4 feet on May 31 and was fully 10 

feet above low water at the Sixteenth Street Bridge in Denver. In

1895 a gaging station was established at the Fifteenth Street Bridge, 

where conditions were similar to those at the Sixteenth Street Bridge. 

From the extension of a rating curve developed subsequently, it is 

estimated that the peak flow for a stage 10 feet above low water was 

about 14,000 second-feet. As the river remained near that stage for 

nearly 24 hours, the mean for the day was probably about 13,000 

second-feet. If the river rose 4 feet to a 10-foot stage on May 31, 

it had reached a stage of 6 feet on May 30, which indicates a discharge of nearly 8,000 second feet on that date. As Cherry Creek 

had its normal small flow, practically all this water came from the 

upper South Platte River.

A dispatch to the Rocky Mountain News, May 31, 1894, stated 

that at Brighton, 20 miles below Denver, the situation was becoming 

alarming, and that hundreds of acres of crops in the bottoms were 

utterly ruined. Old timers were reported as saying that no such 

flood on the South Platte River had occurred since 1876. The following day, June 1, it was reported that the river had gradually risen 

all day and was from 1 foot to 6 feet deep over the lower lands. Cleai 

Creek enters the South Platte River between Denver and Brighton, 

and as the creek was also in flood the flow of the South Platte River 

was doubtless greater at Brighton than at Denver. This increase in 

discharge of the South Platte must have become materially greater 

as far north as the mouth of St. Vrain Creek, near Platteville, as 

Boulder and St. Vrain Creeks both had heavy floods. The effect of 

this increased volume of the South Platte River was noted near 

Brush, Colo., and reported in the Rocky Mountain News, June 3, 

1894:

Brush, Colo., June 2. The [South] Platte River commenced raising at noon 

today and at this [not stated] hour it has raised 8 feet and is still coming up 

* * *. The water was within 1 foot of the bridge at 6 o'clock * * *. 

The water from the river is running out over the bottoms and the river is fully 

2 miles wide.

A rough comparison of the height of the flood of 1894 and that of 

1921 has been made at Fort Morgan. The Fort Morgan Times,
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 27

June 8, 1894, stated that for 24 hours on June 2 the flood touched the 

caps on the top of the bridge piling. According to a local resident 

the crest of the flood of 1921 reached nearly to the top of the piling, 

which still had the same elevation as in 1894. Thus the maximum 

stage and presumably the maximum discharge of both floods were 

nearly the same. No information is available regarding the flood 

below Brush, but it is probable that channel storage flattened it out 

increasingly as it proceeded downstream.

1921

The severest flood of record on South Platte River occurred during 

June 1921 and was caused by heavy rains widespread throughout the 

State, June 2-7. The rainfall extended east of the mountains for 

considerable distance, and the plains tributaries as well as those in 

the mountains contributed to the flow in the South Platte River. 

No gaging stations were being maintained at the mouths of the tributaries, and it is impossible to determine the discharge entering the 

river from tributary streams.

At South Platte, in the canyon section, the flood reached a stage 

of about 9 feet and washed out the narrow-gage track of the Colorado 

& Southern Railroad in the canyon. From the mouth of the canyon 

to Denver, a distance of 43 miles, farms in the bottom lands were 

inundated by the overflow, which varied in width from % to 1% miles. 

Several families were driven from their homes. Bridges were rendered impassable, and several were destroyed. The South Platte 

River rose about 7 feet in Denver; the local press estimated that, 

about 500 houses were inundated and many families forced to seek 

higher ground. Three large packing plants and practically all the 

lower feeding pens at the Denver Union Stock Yards were flooded. 16 

Ten acres of railroad yards were flooded to a depth of 1 foot. 17 The 

bottom lands in the valley below Denver were flooded, the general 

overflow being as much as 4 miles wide near Sterling. Between 

Brighton and Orchard, a distance of 30 miles, the wooden bridges 

were impassable; 2 were destroyed, and the approaches to the others 

were destroyed for a distance of several hundred yards. At Fort 

Morgan the water surface was within a foot of the bridge level near 

the Union Pacific Railroad station.

The following table shows the daily discharge of the South PlatteRiver at the various gaging stations.

i» Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colo,, June 7,1921. 

» 7 Idem, June 9, 1921.
28 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of South Platte River, during flood of June 1921

June

\. ....... ..................................

Z.. .................................. ......

z.. ........................................

4.-..-----.---.--- _ ----------- _ .-.--

5...... . -.-. ._.-_ _. ..

6 

7 

»- 

10..- 

11 

12.----..--.-.---.-...--.---- ___ ......

13... 

14-- ...... ................ ..... . 

15

16 

17 

18 

19... 

20 ...

21 

22 

^R. ........................................

Z^.. .......................... .............

Z&.. .......................................

^&.. .......................................

27- ___ ------- _ .......... __ ----------

28-. 

29.. ........ .. . 

30 

South Platte 

(drainage 

area 2,550 

square 

miles)

1,250

1,25C

1,410

2,340

3,040

4,650

5,860

» 6, 070

5,360

4,920

4,650

4,470

4,300

4,180

4,2(fo

4, 030

3,750

3,140

2,690

2,470

2,260

2,070

1,880

1,890

1,840

1,860

1,670

1,460

1,450

1,400

Denver ' 

(drainage 

area 3,840 

square 

miles)

1,270

1,320

1,460

4,010

5,540

7,010

8,250

8,500

8,290

7,350

6,530

5, 600

5,140

4,600

4,720

4,840

4,760

4,040

3,150

2,890

2,540

2,180

1,960

1,740

1,540

1,440

1,340

1,250

1,030

781

Kersey ' 

(drainage 

area 9,500 

square 

miles)

808

832

912

1,800

10,500

18, 300

31,000

30,000

30, 000

29,000

26,000

23, 300

19,900

19,900

18,300

16,800

15,400

12,800

11,000

9,000

9,500

5,200

3,690

3,240

2,800

2,500

2,380

1,860

1,460

1,130

Balzac ' 

(drainage 

area 17,700 

square 

miles)

311

630

1,030

1,350

1,760

5,900

12, 000

17, 100

18, 300

30, 400

31,200

27,500

25,600

23,600

20,600

21,800

21,500

20,300

19, 100

14,600

12, 600

10, 900

7,680

5,030

3,540

2,700

2,170

2,000

2,000

1,920

Julesburg 1 

(drainage 

area 20,600 

square 

miles)

110

103

101

127

273

938

1,130

2,350

15,000

16,600

22,300

25,800

24,200

25, 700

30,200

30,800

22,000

14, 400

14, 900

13,500

10,900

8,180

6,470

5,630

4,350

3,780

3,240

2,760

2,380

' Data from reports of Colorado State Engineer. 

1 Peak discharge, 6,320 second-feet.

1933

The flood on the South Platte River in the vicinity of Denver 

with the highest recorded discharge at that point occurred during the 

night, September 9-10, 1933. It was caused by heavy rain on the 

divide separating Cherry Creek from Plum, Big Dry, and Little Dry 

Creeks, which enter the South Platte River between the mouth of 

the canyon and Denver. The flow of South Platte River at Denver 

increased from 410 second-feet at 8 p. m., September 9, to 22,000 

second-feet at 1:30 a. m., September 10, remained nearly steady 

until 3 a. m., then receded to 5,810 second-feet at noon. The average 

discharge for the 24-hour period ending at noon, September 10, was 

6,700 second-feet. At Waterton, near the mouth of the canyon, the 

peak discharge was 1,360 second-feet. At Henderson, about 12 

miles below Denver,, the peak discharge of 22,000 second-feet was 

reduced by channel storage to 5,600 second-feet. In an investigation 

of this flood the Office of the State Engineer made a slope-area determination of the peak flow in Plum Creek and found it to be 5,500 

second-feet. Big Dry Creek and Little Dry Creek were the chief 

contributors to the South Platte flood, their combined total being 

estimated at 10,800 second-feet.:8

" Burgess, L. T., Report on flood of September 9-10, 1933, in the South Platte River at Denver. 

Unpublished.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 29

The second largest recorded flood on the South Platte River 

occurred early in June 1935. This was due to rains of cloudburst 

intensity, May 30-31, on the headwaters of the plains tributaries to 

the South Platte, following the wettest May in the 48-year climatic 

record in Colorado. The chief sources of the flood were Kiowa and 

Bijou Creeks, which enter the South Platte River below the Sublette 

gaging station. The mountain tributaries from the west were not in 

flood.

Kiowa Creek enters the South Platte River 18 miles above Fort 

Morgan and Bijou Creek enters 3^ miles above. Further than the 

fact that a severe flood occurred on Kiowa Creek, little is known concerning its flow. On Bijou Creek, however, a rise occurred about 

11:30 p. in., May 30, and about 3:30 a. m., May 31, and according to 

J. M. Dille, manager of the Bijou Irrigation Co., a veritable "wall of 

water" appeared at a point 4 miles above the mouth. This crest 

lasted for 20 minutes and then dropped rapidly, according to a rancher 

living on the stream, who timed it. The crest reached Fort Morgan 

about 5:30 a. m., May 31, and was about 10 feet above normal stage; 

by 7 a. m. it had receded about half a foot and continued to recede 

rapidly; and on the morning of June 2 the stage was again normal. 

Some days later, L. T. Burgess, chief hydrographer of the State of 

Colorado, made a slope-area measurement of the peak flow a mile 

above Fort Morgan and found it to be 84,300 second-feet. As the 

Bijou Creek flood debouched into the channel of the South Platte 

River, the waters flowed upstream, downstream, and across the lowlands, and thus the peak was materially reduced. Owing to the short 

time that the South Platte River was at peak stage at Fort Morgan, 

the mean discharge for the maximum 24-hour period was much less 

than 84,300 second-feet, but no real estimate of this mean can be made.

The flood reached a higher stage near Fort Morgan than at any 

other point on the river, as little or no additional flow entered the 

South Platte River below Bijou Creek, and channel storage reduced 

the peak flow as it progressed toward the Colorado-Nebraska State 

line. Near Sterling, little or no overflow occurred, but near Crook, 

25 miles downstream, a break occurred in the Union Pacific Railroad 

grade which allowed the river to form a lake half a mile wide north of 

the highway. 19

The following table shows the daily discharge at gaging stations of 

the South Platte River. The short duration of the flood period shows 

the cloudburst character of the storm that caused it.

Sterling Advocate, Sterling, Colo., June 3, 1935.

755376 47-
30 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Daily discharge of South Platte River, in second-feet, during flood of June 1985

Date

May30_ 

31_ --------------------- -----

2

3- 

4

5 _ ...

6. 

7

8. 

Denver, 

3,840 square 

miles

788

2,900

860

719

640

500

450

425

411

390

Kersey, 

9,500 square 

miles

2,390

5,700

2.390

1,360

880

660

717

890

Sublette, 

12,900 square 

miles

1,450

1,720

2,080

917

407

336

291

263

Julesburg, 

20,600 square 

miles

4,850

3,310

6,810

15, 900

7,510

4,580

3,320

2,130

' Peak discharge, 31,300 second-feet.

BEAR CREEK

Bear Creek, which drains the eastern slope of the Front Range, 

emerges from the foothills near Morrison and flows through a shallow 

valley for a distance of 10 miles to its junction with the South Platte 

River. Between Idledale and Morrison the fall is 173 feet per mile, 

and across the plains it is 44 feet per mile.

Gaging stations on Bear Creek

Station

Sheridan Junction at mouth of Bear 

Creek.

Drainage 

area (square 

miles)

111 

165

265

Period of record

October 1919 to September 1934. 

April 1888 to September 1891; May 1895 to March 

1902; October 1934 to date. 

April to November 1914; February 1927 to date.

From available references Bear Creek 'appears to be subject to 

more frequent cloudburst floods than any other tributary of the 

South Platte River. This may be partly due to its proximity to 

Denver and to the fact that many residents of Denver have summer 

homes in that area, thus focusing attention on this stream. The 

highway was formerly only a few feet higher than the creek, and considerable loss of life occurred when travelers were trapped in vehicles 

on the highway during floods. Of the 15 floods to which references 

have been found, the 5 larger ones are described in this report.

The storm of May 21-23, 1876, which took the form of snow over 

the upper part of Bear Creek Basin, caused the flood reported in the 

Denver Tribune of June 5, 1876.

* * * informs us that he has never seen such destruction in the region as resulted from the late storm. He spent some days in the valleys [of] Soda and Bear 

Creeks and their tributaries and found new gulches worn to the depth of 20 feet 

in the action of the raging torrents.

The widespread storm of May 29-June 1, 1894, resulted in one of the 

few recorded floods caused by general rains. The Colorado Transcript,
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 31

June 6, 1894, mentioned the destruction caused in various parts of 

the State, and stated that in the vicinity of Morrison the flood caused 

the loss of bridges, railroad tracks, and houses, and destroyed the 

highway in the canyon.

During July 1896 rainfall was recorded at frequent intervals at 

practically every Weather Bureau station in Colorado, and although 

the amounts recorded for each storm were not great, the total for the 

month ranged from 1 inch to 5 inches. No outstanding floods occurred 

except in the adjacent basins of Bear Creek and Clear Creek, and 

precipitation records are not available for these. The flood on Bear 

Creek was the severest recorded for that area, and caused the loss of 

several lives, and much property damage. Unlike the other floods 

on Bear Creek, which originated below Evergreen in the vicinity of 

Cold Spring Gulch, the flood of July 24, 1896, originated on Cub 

Creek, above Evergreen. A resident of Evergreen says that a 24-hour 

rain terminated in a cloudburst on Cub Creek that washed out a small 

mill dam on that stream.

The Colorado Transcript, August 5, 1896, reported:

Commencing at the origin of the flood which is at the head of Cub Creek, about 

8 miles southwest of Evergreen, there is nothing but ruin and desolation in its 

wake.

The Rocky Mountain News, July 25, 1896, stated:

Without a moment's warning the largest flood that ever came down Bear Creek 

struck Morrison about 8 o'clock tonight [July 24], sweeping everything in its 

path. * * * The terror was added to by a report that a flood that would 

wipe out the entire town was coming down Mount Vernon Gulch * * * but, 

although the water came down through the town nearly 3 feet deep in the main 

street, the buildings in the business section all withstood it.

The peak flow at the Morrison gaging station above the mouth of 

Mount Vernon Creek was computed by the slope-area method as 

8,600 second-feet. 20 According to the newspaper reports, the area 

of heavy rainfall extended to the head of Cub Creek and probably was 

about 50 square miles, which indicates a unit runoff of 172 second-feet 

per square mile.

A flood on Bear Creek, July 7, 1933, is reported in the Jefferson 

County Republican as follows:

Five persons known dead * * * property damage of unestimated degree 

and nearly all the highway between Mt. Morrison and Idledale mined, is the toll 

up to date of one of the most devastating floods last Friday afternoon [July 7] 

ever to visit the Bear Creek watershed. * * * A cloudburst at about 1 

o'clock in the neighborhood of Idledale sent a wall of water down Saw Mill Gulch 

leading to Bear Creek, and another raging torrent down Vernon Creek * * *. 

The Vernon Creek waters reached a height of 15 feet * * * in the narrow 

passage between the business houses. * * * The highway up beautiful Bear

Colorado State. Engineer, Report for the years 1895 and 1896, p. 45,1897.
32 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Creek Canyon between Mt. Morrison and Idledale is practically ruined. * * * 

The depth of the flood water * * * failed to reach the height of the all-time 

record in Bear Creek established * * * July 24, 1896.

The Geological Survey made a slope-area determination of the peak 

discharge at Morrison, above Mount Vernon Creek, and found it to 

be 8,110 second-feet. The newspaper reports indicate that the area 

receiving the heaviest rainfall was a strip not exceeding 4 miles wide 

across the basin, giving a drainage area of about 20 square miles, or a 

unit run-off of about 400 second-feet per square mile. The mean discharge for the day at the Idledale gaging station 3 miles upstream 

from Morrison was 600 second-feet. At the mouth 10 miles downstream the peak discharge was 3,000 second-feet, and the mean for 

the day 750 second-feet.

On August 9, 1934, cloudbursts occurred on Bear Creek just below 

Kittriclge and at the head of Mount Vernon Creek, causing another 

flood in which six lives were lost and heavy property damage. The 

Jefferson County Republican reported:

Unlike the flood of July 7 of last year when practically all of the Bear Creek 

highway between Morrison and Idledale was washed out, the damage in the 

canyon this year was comparatively small, the new Bear Creek highway which 

had just been opened to the public having suffered little damage, while in Mount 

Vernon Canyon the wall of water was of much greater volume than last year and 

ripped out much of the roadway in the canyon.

The business section of Morrison did not suffer as greatly as last year owing to 

the fact that the waters of Bear Creek and Mount Vernon Creek did not meet at 

Morrison this year, the Bear Creek water having passed Morrison before Mount 

Vernon Creek water reached the junction with Bear Creek at Morrison.

This newspaper added that the flood on Mount Vernon Creek was 

12 to 15 feet high, and according to a resident who had lived 40 years 

near the creek, was the highest flood during that period. It was 

exceeded, however, by the flood of September 2, 1938.

The Office of the State Engineer made a slope-area measurement of 

the peak discharge of Bear Creek at Idledale, 5% miles below Kittriclge, 

and found it to be 4,620 second-feet; the mean discharge for the day 

was 274 second-feet. At the mouth of Bear Creek the peak discharge 

was 1,300 second-feet, and the mean for the day 88 second-feet.

The flood of September 2-3, 1938, was caused by a cloudburst that 

centered on the divide between Mount Vernon and Bear Creeks near 

the top of Geiiessee Mountain. Unfortunately, this area had no 

Weather Bureau precipitation stations, and it was therefore necessary 

to determine the locations and approximate amounts of rainfall from 

such information as could be furnished by local residents who had 

measured the rainfall in improvised rain gages. The Bureau of Reclamation made a thorough search for such information, which is 

presented in the following table.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 33

Rainfall on Bear Creek and Mount Vernon Creek drainage basins during night of

Sept. 2-3, 1938

Location

NWJ4 sec. 10, T. 5 S., R. 71 W_._.

R. 71 W. 

Kittridge. SWJ£ sec. 35, T. 4 S.,

R. 71 W. 

In Cold Spring Gulch, SEJ4 sec.

25, T. 4 S., R. 71 W.

Mouth of Cold Spring Gulch, 

Southwest corner sec. 30, T. 4 S.. 

R. 70 \V. 

Southwest corner sec. 29, T. 4 S., 

R. 70 W. 

NEMsec. 32, T. 4 S., R. 70 W_.__

sec. 35, T. 4 S., R. 70 W. 

NE% sec. 30, T. 4 S., R. 70 W_ ...

R. 7li \V. 

S\VM sec. 7, T. 4 S., R. 70 W.....

SEJ4 sec. 13, T. 4 S., R. 71 W.....

North quarter corner sec. 13, T. 

4 S., R. 71 W. 

Southwest corner sec. 12, T. 4 S., 

R. 71 W. 

NEJi sec. 11, T. 4 S., R. 71 W.. 

Hosa Lodre, southeast corner sec.

10, T. 4 S., R. 71 W.

Rainfall 

(inches)

3

4

15

4

4 

4

3

4^

6

&A1

8

7M 

6

8J-2

8

Method of measurement

2-lb. coffee can in open.

Wheelbarrow 5 inches 

deep.

Two buckets in open.- 

Oil barrel-.------.. ...

Partly covered can...- 

Straight-sided can .. 

Wash tub... ..........

10-inch bucket-... _ -

Remarks

Hardest rain lasted only about 

30 minutes.

Sept. 6. 

Rain started about 6 p. m., Sept. 2

and continued hard until about 

8:30 p. m.

Both buckets measured exactly the 

same. 

Hard rain started at 6:40 p. m.,

Sept. 2, and continued at least 

4 hours. 

Rain started about 7:15 p. m.,

Sept. 2. Most of it fell in 2 hours.

Rained all night. 

7 inches measured in flaring bucket;

computed at 6 inches. 

Gage ran over; estimated overflow,

1 inch. Emptied gage and it 

read \}4, inches additional. 

Hard rain 6:30 to 9 p. m., Sept. 2.

Most of rain fell in about 2 hours.

estimate of splash. Two hard 

rains reported.

timated between 8 and 9 inches. 

Hardest rain between 6:30 and 7 

p. m., Sept. 2.

1 Approximate.

This precipitation resulted in floods in Cold Spring Gulch and 

Mount Vernon Creek, which caused the flood on Bear Creek. Above 

Cold Spring Gulch, the upper of these two tributaries, Bear Creek 

experienced only a small rise. Within a short time after the flood, 

slope-area determinations of the peak flows were made at controlling 

points.

Cold Spring Gulch, a tributary of Bear Creek, in the area of highest 

precipitation in SE% sec. 25, T. 4 S., R. 71 W., had a peak discharge 

of 9,000 second-feet from a drainage area of 4.48 square miles, or 

2,010 second-feet per square mile. A small gulch is tributary to 

Cold Spring Gulch between this point of measurement and the 

confluence of Cold Spring Gulch and Bear Creek. A slope-area 

measurement of this gulch at its mouth near the southwest corner of 

sec. 30, T. 4 S., R. 70 W., showed a peak discharge of 2,050 second-feet 

from a drainage area of 0.63 square miles, or 3,250 second-feet per 

square mile. The watermarks and erosion at the mouth of this 

tributary gulch showed that its peak discharge came before the peak 

on Cold Spring Gulch and therefore should not be added to the peak
34 FLOODS IN COLORADO

flow of Cold Spring Gulch. As the tributary gulch has a short, narrow, steep drainage area, it appears that its flow was relatively small 

at the time of the peak in Cold Spring Gulch. The flow of 9,000 

second-feet, as measured, represents the peak flow of Cold Spring 

Gulch.

The peak discharge of Bear Creek at Morrison, above the mouth of 

Mount Vernon Creek, was 6,200 second-feet from 164 square miles, 

or 37.8 second-feet per square mile. The difference between the peak 

on Cold Spring Gulch and that on Bear Creek at Morrison is undoubtedly due to the fact that the peak discharge on the gulch was 

of very short duration and flattened out in the channel of the creek 

between the mouth of Cold Spring Gulch and Morrison, a distance 

of about 5 miles. Mount Vernon Creek in SW% sec. 23, T. 4 S., 

R. 70 W., 2 miles above Morrison, had a peak discharge of 3,900 

second-feet from a drainage area of 5.7 square miles, or 684 second-feet 

per square mile. In sec. 35, T 4 S., R. 70 W., half a mile above its 

mouth at Morrison, the peak discharge of Mount Vernon Creek was 

9,230 second-feet from, a drainage area of 9.45 square miles, or 977 

second-feet per square mile. From statements by local residents it 

appears that the peak discharge of Mount Vernon Creek at Morrison 

occurred about 7 p. m. September 2, and that on Bear Creek at 

Morrison about 7:30 p. m. the same day. The length of time that the 

peak discharge lasted at Morrison is not definitely known, but several 

local residents state that it was about 1 % to 2 hours from the time the 

flood from Mount Vernon Creek reached Morrison until the water 

had subsided sufficiently to permit travel on the main street.

The water-stage recorder at the gaging station on Bear Creek at 

Morrison did not operate during the flood because a deposit of gravel 

and rocks blocked the intake, but a satisfactory record was obtained 

by the recorder at the Sheridan Junction gaging station, near the 

mouth of Bear Creek, about 10 miles below Morrison. The table 

that follows shows the stage and discharge at this station at frequent

Gage height and discharge of Bear Creek at mouth, near Sheridan Junction, Colo.,

Sept. 2-3, 19S8

[Data furnished by the Colorado State Engineer]

Sept.

2 

Time

10:05 p. m-- ____

10:20 p. m _____

11:00 p. m_____ _ .

12:00 midnight- _

Gage 

height 

(feet)

2.95

3.50

4.75

17.21

6.80

5.70

Discharge 

(secondfeet)

218

825

2,810

2,450

1,600

Sept.

3.....---.-.

Time

2:00 a. m_ .........

4:00 a. m . .. .

7:00 a. m __ . .....

Gage 

height 

(feet)

3.90

3.75

3.70

3.60

Discharge 

(secondfeet)

Q1 C

633

545

500

i Peak.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 35

intervals during the flood and indicates that the flood was of short 

duration. The total quantity of water discharged in the 6-hour 

period 10 p. m. to 4 a. m. was 732 acre-feet.

The reduction shown in the peak discharge of Bear Creek between 

Cold Spring Gulch and Morrison continued in greater degree below 

Mount Vernon Creek, as at its mouth Bear Creek had a peak discharge of only 2,810 second-feet.

CLEAR CREEK

Clear Creek emerges from the Front Range at Golden and flows 

for a distance of 16 miles across the plains. For a distance of 10 

miles above the mouth of the canyon the fall is 103 feet per mile, 

and across the plains it is 37 feet per mile.

Gaging stations on Clear Creek

Station

Drainage 

area (square 

miles)

239

374

392

600

Period of record

October 1910 to September 1912.

August 1887 to September 1888.

Floods on the Clear Creek occurred in May and June 1864. The 

only information regarding the flood of May 18 is contained in the 

Central City Daily Miners Register, issue of May 18, 1864:

Clear Creek is on a bender. The rain storms of the past few days, with the 

melting snows * * *, together fill the mountain streams to overflowing. 

[North] Clear Creek, where it courses through Blackhawk, is at present far above 

the banks. In front of the Blackhawk foundry the water covers nearly the entire 

surface of the street.

And on May 29 the Register stated that the bridges over Clear 

Creek along the road to Denver had been washed away, except the 

one at Golden.

Regarding the flood of June 10, the Georgetown Courier, June 12, 

1864, stated:

Clear Creek rose very rapidly Monday night [June 9] and overflowed its banks 

near the corner of Rose and Tenth Streets. It became necessary to construct 

a levee the next day to keep the stream within its limits.

High water did considerable damage 'on the Empire branch of Clear Creek last 

Thursday [June 5]. The dam above Bartt and Fletcher's mill gave way. The 

large county bridge below was wrecked, the bridge above Empire station, the 

railroad bridge, and the other bridge below the station were carried away.
36 FLOODS IN COLORADO

The Denver Rocky Mountain News, May 29, 1867, records a flood 

on Clear Creek:

We had a call this morning from Mr. G. H. Bogue, acting sheriff of Clear Creek 

County. He reports a constant fall of rain and snow at Idaho [Springs], from 

Friday last up to the time when he came away yesterday, with a good prospect 

of a continuance for an indefinite period. The snow melted away as fast as it 

fell *' * * Clear Creek is so high that bar mining has been suspended for a 

time.

On July 14, 1872, a cloudburst flood occurred on Golden Gate 

Gulch, which enters Clear Creek at Golden. The account of this 

flood as given in the Rocky Mountain News of July 16, 1872, in which 

the cloudburst is termed a waterspout, is presented at length because, 

so far as is known, it is the earliest account of a cloudburst in this 

region. The last sentence of the quotation indicates the short 

duration of the flood.

Those who have ever witnessed a waterspout will bear testimony to its appalling 

nature. One of these curious phenomena occurred on the Central Stage Road 

in Golden Gate Gulch, 4 miles above the town of Golden, on July 14 about 4 

o'clock. People residing in that vicinity report having seen, just above the higher 

mountains, numerous dense clouds, from which a conical pillar resembling condensed vapor, was seen to descend, and almost simultaneously a deafening peal 

of thunder was heard.

Mr. Jack Virden [and family] had been to Golden and were returning home in a 

double carriage and had reached the point indicated above, when the waterspout 

dispersed. * * * Presently a violent commotion, with confusion of sounds 

like the tumult of the elements, was heard high up in the mountains. Then came 

a tremendous torrent of water, bearing trees and boulders, and calculated to 

astonish and terrify by its magnitude, force, and violence. The horses, seeing 

that they were to be sacrificed to the prodigious volume, took fright, and shying 

to one side upset the carriage and all occupants wrere pitched into the bottom of 

the gulch. In an instant, as it were, and before they could recover their feet, the 

wave, with a perpendicular breast of 10 or 12 feet, was upon them and licked them 

up like the sands of the gulch. Mrs. Virden clung to her husband, and he, by 

miraculous chance, got hold of a limb and held fast until the flood subsided.

No mention has been found of the resulting flood in Golden or 

farther down Clear Creek, and it is probable that, like similar floods, 

its peak was soon reduced by channel storage to a stage at which it 

ceased to cause serious damage.

On August 1, 1888, another flood occurred on Clear Creek, the peak 

discharge of which was stated in the report of the State Engineer 2: 

to have been 8,700 second-feet and to have lasted 2 hours. This discharge was at the gaging station maintained in the canyon 7 miles 

above Golden. The gage was washed out, but the peak discharge 

was apparently determined from high-water marks and an extension 

of the station rating curve. The Colorado Transcript, August 8, 1888, 

states that this flood caused severe damage to the railroad tracks in

si Colorado State Engineer, 4th Bienn. Kept., pt. 2, 1889.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 37

the canyon, washing them out badly. According to the Rocky Mountain News, August 2, 1888, the damage occurred between Idaho 

Springs and Golden.

Cloudbursts on July 24, 1896, caused a flood in Golden Gate Gulch 

and on Clear Creek below the mouth of Beaver Brook which enters 

the canyon about 6 miles above Golden. The Colorado Transcript, 

July 29, 1896, contains the following account of this storm and the 

resulting flood:

At about 7 o'clock [evening] dense clouds had gathered low down on the surrounding mountains and at that hour an unprecedented downpour of rain and hail 

commenced, continuing to fall in sheets for half an hour or more * * *. 

Before the rain even partially ceased the water in the [Clear] creek began to rise 

rapidly, bringing down flood wood, railroad ties, trees, and all manner of debris, 

and to add to the horror, at about 8 o'clock a tremendous wall of water came down 

Tucker Gulch [a tributary of Golden Gate Gulch] forcing its way through the 

center of the town [Golden], carrying death and destruction in its path.

At the point where the gulch debouches through a narrow passage in Clarks 

garden, additional watermarks show that the body of water must have been fully 

30 feet deep. At this point stood the residence of Alderman J. F. Edwards, and 

the relentless flood swept from home and loved ones Mrs. Edwards, who was 

standing in the yard as the water approached and was unable to reach a place of 

safety before she was hurled to death * * *. The flood with its load of wreckage dashed on down the incline, parting at the glass works which stood alongside 

the railroad tracks, one body following down the gulch and Ford Street * * *. 

taking in its course a little cottage. [Two occupants were drowned.]

By 8 o'clock Clear Creek itself was on the rampage, a body of water from 8 to 

10 feet deep coming down from Beaver Brook.

These cloudburst floods were of such short duration that they were 

quickly flattened out when they reached Clear Creek, and apparently 

caused little damage, as the local newspapers do not mention high 

water in Clear Creek at this time.

Rain on September 9-11, 1933, covered the Clear Creek Basin, 

the records showing 2.75 inches at Idaho Springs and 1.10 inches at 

Denver near the mouth of the creek. This rain caused a peak discharge of 5,890 second-feet September 9 at the Golden gaging station. 

The peak was of such short duration, however, that the mean discharge for each of the calendar days was much less than the peak, as 

shown by the following record for the period September 8-11, 1933:

Mean daily discharge near Golden, September 8-11, 1983

Second-feet 

Sept. 8__.._-_-_- _. _-. ---___.._._______-_.____. 72

9_______-_-___--_-----_.____-_____-______-_____ 757

10-___- -_-_-_ -_ -_-.__._._-_._________.____ 552

ll_-___-__--_____-_-_--__._ _.__.__.__.__... 210

Golden Gate Canyon, which enters Clear Creek below the gaging 

station near Golden, was flooded, and the highway was damaged to 

such an extent that it was closed for several days. The peak discharge,
38 FLOODS IN COLORADO

September 9, 1933, was the highest recorded for the area since the 

flood of August 1, 1888.

The general rains of September 2-3, 1938, which reached cloudburst 

proportions on the divide between Clear Creek and Bear Creek, 

centering around Genessee Mountain, caused Clear Creek at the 

gaging station lK miles west of Golden to reach a peak discharge of 

4,090 second-feet at 9 p. m. September 2. The peak reached the 

gaging station 12 miles downstream, near the mouth, at 1 a. m. 

September 3, with a discharge of 3,650 second-feet. The flood was 

of such short duration that the mean discharge for September 3 was 

only 840 second-feet.

ST. VRAIN CREEK

St. Vrain Creek is formed by the confluence of North and South 

St. Vrain Creeks, which drain the Front Range and emerge on the 

plains, uniting below Lyons. For a distance of 10 miles above the 

junction North St. Vrain Creek has a fall of 121 feet per mile, and 

South St. Vrain Creek 189 feet per mile. From Lyons to the mouth 

of the creek, a distance of 31 miles, the main stream has a fall of 22 

feet per mile.

Gaging stations on St. Vrain and North St. Vrain Creeks

Station

North St. Vrain Creek at Longmont Dam, 

near Lyons.

St. Vrain Creek at mouth, near Platteville..

Drainage area 

(square 

miles)

109 

226

1,000

Period of record

October 1925 to date. 

August 1887 to October 1892; June

date. 

April to December 1915; February 

date.

1895 to

1927 to

The storm of June 1864 caused a flood the effects of which were felt 

severely in the St. Vrain Valley.

The storm of May 1876 also caused a flood on St.. Vrain Creek, 

but the only known reference to it is a statement in the Golden 

Tribune, May 31, 1876, that at the junction of St. Vrain Creek and 

Lefthand Creek, at Burlington, the water spread over the bottoms 

from bluff to bluff for 2 days.

The general storm of May 31, 1894, caused a flood on St. Vrain 

Creek, of which the Boulder Camera, June 2, 1894, reported:

All the lower part of Lyons was washed away, probably 20 houses being destroyed or ruined. Sheriff Dyer said that, standing on the hills and looking out 

onto St. Vrain Valley, a lake 3 miles wide was in the picture.

From information relative to the 1894 storm it appears that South 

St. Vrain Creek contributed the greater part of the flood. During 

an investigation made by the Geological Survey in 1939, a resident 

who had lived near the gaging station at Lyons during 1894 said that
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 39

he remembered distinctly that the peak of that flood just reached the 

top of the rail of the railroad track, which passes close to the gage. 

This has an altitude of 8.1.3 feet on the gage datum. A rough slopearea determination of the peak discharge was made, using the present 

slope of the water surface for medium stage, and a cross section 8 feet 

narrower than the present cross section, because the resident stated 

that the channel was widened by that amount during the flood of 

1919. The peak discharge was thus estimated to be 9,800 second-feet. 

A series of cloudbursts during the last part of July and the first of 

August 1919 caused short, sharp floods on St. Vrain Creek. The 

Lyons Recorder, August 2, 1919, describes these floods:

The heaviest and most destructive cloudburst and downpour of water in the 

memory of the oldest inhabitant visited Lyons on Wednesday [July 30] between 

2:30 and 3:45 p. m. It took out all the bridges on the North St. Vrain for about 

5 miles up and 5 miles downstream. The Longmont and Lyons water mains up 

the canyon were torn out in many places. Not only were the bridges washed 

away, closing the road to Bates Park, but miles of road was torn out along the 

narrow canyon.

The people living on the lowlands along the banks of the river were flooded out, 

and many abandoned their homes for higher ground and safety. It was no uncommon thing to see an automobile, bridge, barn, chicken house, and other small 

buildings going down the stream at a high rate of speed. North-side citizens 

* * * gave all the assistance possible to the residents [in the lower part of 

town] whose homes * * * were in a roaring sea of water 2 and 3 feet deep.

On the following day, July 31, another storm, not so severe but of 

longer duration, raised North St. Vrain Creek nearly as high as on 

the 30th and again flooded the houses in the lower part of town and 

washed out 300 yards of railroad track east of Lyons.

During an investigation of this flood made in 1939 the Geological 

Survey learned from the same resident who furnished information 

relative to the 1894 flood, that the water surface in 1919 reached the 

base of the rail near the gaging station on July 30, and rose again on 

July 31 to nearly the same point. The stage of July 30 increased the 

channel width by 8 feet. Using the present cross section and slope of 

water surface, the peak discharge which occurred about 4 p. m. 

July 30 was computed as 9,400 second-feet. The right bank was 

inundated for a width of 300 feet. The mean daily discharge for the 

period July 30 to August 3, when the St. Yrain Creek gaging station 

was out of commission, was estimated as follows:

Daily discharge of St. Vrain Creek, July SO-Aug. S, 1919

Second-fed 

July 30.____-.-_-_._-_-__.--_--_._-._.---..___.____._ 1,900

31-..._-.-.-_-----_.----..---..-.---._.--__-.-.. 1,200 

Aug. 1__.___ -_---.-__.-_._-.-.-__.-.____.___.____._ 950

2.__.._.---.-.._._-__.-.-._._...-__._.-______._!, 000

3.._._.___..____...__..._--_.__.__.___._.__..._ 1, 100
40 FLOODS IN COLORADO

As these were cloudburst floods, the peak discharges were of short 

duration.

The widespread rains of June 2-7, 1921, caused a flood on St. Vrain 

Creek, reported as follows in the Lyons Recorder, of June 9, 1921:

While Lyons experienced an extraordinary heavy rain during June 4-6, and 

both St. Vrain Creeks [North and South] carried large volumes of water, very 

little damage was done. We were very fortunate that very little water fell up 

either canyon, the rise coming from rains in the Longs Peak region and the natural 

melting of mountain snow.

The peak discharge recorded at Lyons was 2,020 second-feet, 

June 7. The rainfall was particularly heavy east of the mountains, 

as shown by the 5.87 inches recorded at Longmont, June 2-7. No 

estimate of the discharge at Longmont is available, but a dispatch to 

the Boulder Camera, June 7, 1921, stated:

The St. Vrain Creek here is way out of its banks and is said by people who 

should know to be the highest in 25 years [evidently referring to the flood of 1894]. 

The Creek is carrying more water and is higher in this region than during the 

cloudbursts at Lyons 2 years ago. The Creek at this point is three-quarters of a 

mile wide. Water is up to the Farmers' Mill and the depot. All bridges in the 

City are out or dangerous.

The storm of September 2-4, 1938, was felt in the St. Vrain 

Creek Basin chiefly east of the mountains, as the peak discharge at 

the Lyons gaging station, which occurred at 1 a. m., September 3, 

was only 1,650 second-feet. At Longmont the precipitation for the 

3-day period was 4.54 inches, and at Fort Lupton 3.99 inches. Below 

Lyons the discharge increased rapidly, owing to run-off from tributary 

streams, some of which are ordinarily dry gulches. Boulder Creek 

enters St. Vrain Creek 6 miles east of Longmont, and at that point 

the flood was increased by th? peak discharge of 4,410 second-feet 

from Boulder Creek. The peak at the mouth of Boulder Creek 

occurred at noon September 3. Ten miles farther downstream, as 

measured along the valley, the peak discharge at the gaging station 

near the mouth of St. Vrain Creek was 8,360 second-feet at 6 p. m., 

September 3, as shown by a slope-area measurement made by L. T. 

Burgess, chief hydrographer of the State of Colorado. Lefthand 

Creek enters St. Vrain Creek three-quarters of a mile below Longmont; 

its peak discharge was 812 second-feet at 11 p. m., September 2, and 

at the time of the peak on St. Vrain Creek the flow from Lefthand 

Creek was about 400 seconcl-feet. To show the comparative discharges 

during the flood, the mean daily discharge, in second-feet, at the 

various gaging stations is presented in the following table.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 41

Daily discharge, in second-feet, in St. Vrain Creek Basin, Sept. 2-9, 1988

Gaging station

Lefthand Creek at mouth, at LongBoulder Creek at mouth, near LongSt. Vrain Creek at mouth, near

September

2

407 

148 

160 

374

3

1,370 

432 

2,300 

3,200

4

818 

188 

1,630 

5,300

5

572 

123 

1,020 

2,910

6

451 

81 

624 

2,340

7

362 

63 

415 

1,690

8

331 

56 

339 

1,190

9

270 

49 

366 

934

Below the mouth of Boulder Creek the bottomlands along St. Vrain 

Creek were overflowed to a considerable extent.

LEFTHAND CREEK

Lefthand Creek enters St. Vrain Creek a short distance below 

Longmont. The only flood of definite record is that caused by the 

heavy rains of May 29-June 1, 1894, when 6.80 inches was reported 

at Ward, located on the headwaters at an elevation of 9,200 feet. 

Referring to this flood, the Boulder Camera, June 2, 1894, states:

From Boston Mill to Ward that little stream is a howling river. The railroad 

bridges and all wagon bridges over Lefthand Creek were washed out. Lefthand 

Creek is 300 yards wide a mile from Niwot [on the plains]. Old timers stated 

that this is the worst flood since 1864,

BOULDER CREEK

Boulder Creek drains the Front Range, and its fall for a distance 

of 10 miles upstream from Boulder is 229 feet per mile. Between 

Boulder and the mouth of the creek the drainage area is a part of the 

plains, where the fall in the 22 miles from the edge of the plains to 

the mouth is 26 feet per mile.

Gaging stations on Boulder Creek

Station

Drainage 

area (square 

miles)

105

134

512

Period of record

August 1887 to October 1888; March 1907 to November

1914; February 1916 to date. 

April 1888 to October 1892; May 1895 to December

1901; July 1904 to December 1908. 

March 1927 to date.

During the periods of known floods on Boulder Creek no gaging 

station was in operation, and the information available consists chiefly 

of extracts from the press, with no estimate of discharge except for 

the flood of May 31, 1894, a study of which was made some years 

later by a firm of consulting engineers.
42 FLOODS IN COLORADO

The widespread floods during June 1864 included Boulder Creek, 

for Watrous 22 states that Boulder Valley suffered severely.

The general storm of May 21-23, 1876, resulted in a flood on 

Boulder Creek, described in the Greeley Tribune, May 31, 1876, as 

follows:

The Boulder, swollen into a great river, in places fully a mile and a half wide, 

inundated the land and farms and meadows and swept away fences and bridges. 

So far as heard, the damage to farms was not so great as the magnitude of the 

flood would seem to indicate.

The Denver Tribune, May 24, 1876, states that Boulder was without railroad service, as both railroads were out of commission.

The severe storm of May 29 to June 1, 1894, was heaviest in the 

Boulder Creek Basin, particularly in the Fourmile Creek area, and 

the resulting flood came chiefly from that tributary, which enters 

Boulder Creek about 2 miles above Boulder. Regarding the flow the 

Boulder Camera, May 31, 1894, stated:

A great flood came pouring down Boulder Creek at an early hour this morning. 

Every vestige of a bridge has been swept away, and railroad tracks torn from their 

moorings. [The railroad followed the canyon to Fourmile Creek and continued 

up Fourmile Creek to Ward.) From the Boulder Hotel to the University hill 

* * * was one vast lake with here and there a small patch of an island.

The Denver Republican, June 2, 1894, carried a dispatch from 

Boulder, dated June 1:

Boulder and Boulder County yesterday and today experienced the worst flood 

ever known in the history of that place. It had rained for over 2 days, and on 

Wednesday night [May 30] it came down in great volumes. The melting snow 

which generally starts the flood in June was melted so much faster on account of 

the rains that it swelled the mountain stream beyond anything dreamed of. In 

the canyon the rush of the stream was maddening and nothing could stay its 

downward course. Waterspout after waterspout seemed to break on the hillsides 

and added to the fearfully swollen streams.

Prof. Junius Henderson, writing of this flood of 1894 in the Boulder 

Camera, November 15, 1921, says that as great damage was wrought 

in the canyon above Boulder as in Boulder itself. All bridges were 

swept away, and the highway and railroad almost totally destroyed 

as far up the canyon as Fourmile Creek, and up Fourmile Creek to 

Sunset. He quotes the press as stating that in Fourmile Canyon six 

buildings were destroyed at Crisman, eight at Sunset, and practically 

everything was swept away or destroyed at Copper Rock.

In 1912 the Boulder City Improvement Association employed 

Metcalf & Eddy, consulting engineers of Boston, who during the course 

of their studies made an estimate of the peak discharge of the 1894

" Watrous, Ansel, History of Larimcr County: Conner Printing & Publishing Co., Fort Collins, Colo., 

1911, p. 213.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 43

flood in Boulder. Their report to the Association, dated April 27, 

1912, contains the following statement:

The most reliable record of extreme flood level was that obtained through the 

courtesy of the officials of the Denver, Boulder & Western Ry., upon one of the 

wooden-trestle bridges crossing Boulder Creek near 4th Street. Here the wide 

crossing is fairly uniform in character for a considerable distance above and below 

the trestle. The slope is approximately 1.1 percent. The reported depth was 

about 10 feet at this flood level. [Later reports indicate an area of about 800 

square feet, and that this depth may have been as much as 11 feet.]

We estimate the discharges corresponding to these elements to have been 

approximately 12,000 second-feet [or 13,600 second-feet with a depth of 11 feet]. 

In view of what has been said concerning the pooling action of the water at the 

bridges, it is possible, however, that the discharge may have been somewhat less 

than this perhaps between 9,000 and 10,000 second-feet. [This discharge is 

computed with a value of n = 0.035.]

On June 2, 1914, another flood occurred in this area. This was 

caused by rainfall on June 1 of more than 1 inch on the North Boulder 

Creek Basin near Silver Lake, at an elevation of 10,200 feet. This 

rainfall hastened the melting of the snow, which during the preceding 

winter had been 50 percent above normal. The Boulder Camera, 

June 2, 1914, described the flood as follows:

All bridges between Colburn Mill and Boulder Falls were washed out, numerous 

others were badly damaged, several hundred feet of main line of Boulder's water 

system was destroyed, and thousands of dollars worth of damage was done to 

Boulder County farm land last night and today by Boulder Creek, which has been 

on a rampage for the past 18 hours. * * * The flood was the worst Boulder 

has experienced since 1894, when all of the lowlands lying between Water Street 

and University Hill were flooded.

According to Water Commissioner James Platt, the creek raised 2 feet 2 inches, 

the greatest flow [stage] during the night measuring 5 feet 6 inches. The 2 feet 

raise meant an increased water flow of from 2,000 to 3,000 cubic feet [per second], 

bringing the total flow up to over 5,000 cubic feet [per second]. This is nearly 

4,000 cubic feet [per second] greater than normal.

Precipitation for June 7-10, 1923, amounted to 3.27 inches at 

Boulder, the only station reported in the Boulder Creek Basin. This 

storm did not extend 3 miles west to the gaging station near Orodell, as 

the discharge at that station was less than 700 second-feet during this 

period. The Boulder Camera, June 9, 1923, said:

Both Middle and South Boulder Creeks have left their banks near Valmont and 

are cutting between the two bridges of the Valmont road. Water is running over 

the Valmont road for a stretch of several hundred feet. Twomile Canyon in 

North Boulder is reported to be doing great damage to the section lying between 

Wellington Heights and Eighth Avenue.

During the storm of September 1-4, 1938, the basin of Boulder 

Creek east of the mountains received precipitation amounting to 3.38 

inches at Boulder, and 3.99 inches at Fort Lupton near the mouth.
44 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Very little precipitation occurred in the upper part of the basin, as at 

the Orodell gaging station the peak discharge, which occurred at 

midnight September 2, was only 642 second-feet. The effect of this 

rainfall on the stream flow was felt at the gaging station near the 

mouth, where a slope-area measurement made by the office of the 

State engineer indicated a peak discharge of 4,410 second-feet. This 

peak occurred at noon on September 3. It was caused chiefly by the 

flood from South Boulder Creek which, about 10:30 p. m., entered 

Boulder Creek at a point about 18 miles above the gaging station near 

the mouth. The effect of channel storage was indicated by the fact 

that the discharge of 8,500 second-feet at Eldorado Springs plus an 

undetermined but very considerable flow from Boulder Creek above 

South Boulder Creek was reduced to a peak of 4,410 second-feet at the 

gaging station near the mouth. The total discharge for the 3-day 

period, however, increased from 4,250 acre-feet at the Eldorado Springs 

and Orodell stations to 9,900 acre-feet at the mouth. Prior to 1938 

the greatest discharge at the mouth of Boulder Creek since the 

establishment of that station in 1927 had been 860 second-feet, on' 

May 28, 1935. Little or no overflow occurred in Boulder, but at 

Erie, below the mouth of South Boulder Creek, the flood reached the 

town, and many residents left their homes for higher ground.

SOUTH BOULDER CREEK

The only recorded flood on South Boulder Creek occurred September 

2, 1938. A gaging station has been maintained on this stream near 

Eldorado Springs since 1888, with some lapses, but the earlier records 

do not indicate any floods. The station was not in operation during 

1894, when floods were prevalent throughout northern Colorado; it is 

probable that a flood occurred at that time, but no information regarding it is available.

The earliest reference to a flood on South Boulder Creek is to the 

one in June 1923, caused by the heavy rains of June 7-10. The rainfall at Eldorado Springs was 3.15 inches during that period. The 

Boulder Camera of June 9, 1923, stated that, owing to the flood, the 

Intel-urban Bridge across South Boulder Creek was considered so 

dangerous that service between Boulder and Louisville was stopped. 

Also, South Boulder Creek had overflowed its banks at Valmoiit.

A series of cloudbursts along the foothills of the Front Range, 

September 2, 1938, caused a flood on South Boulder Creek at Eldorado 

Springs, at the mouth of the Canyon. The Weather Bureau observer 

at that point stated that the rain causing the flood started about 6:30 

p. m., September 2 and was particularly heavy until 2 a. m., September 

3, when it lessened materially but continued during that day. The
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 45

total rainfall was 4.42 inches. Phillip Kneale, who was living 2 miles 

above Eldorado Springs, in sec. 26, T. 1 S., R. 71 W., stated that the 

rain began at 4 p. m., September 2 and was heavy until 10 p. m., 

being succeeded by a "slow" rain that lasted until the morning of 

September 4. By means of a bucket in his yard he measured about 6 

inches of precipitation during the entire storm. This storm occurred 

after 2 days of rain which at Eldorado Springs amounted to 0.60 inch 

on September 1, and 0.80 inch on September 2. That the cloudburst was confined to the foothills is indicated by the fact that at 

PineclifT, 8 miles west, at an elevation of about 8,000 feet and about 

2,000 feet higher than Eldorado Springs, only a light shower was 

reported.

The Geological Survey made an investigation of this flood within a 

few days, and computed the peak flow over a dam a quarter of a mile 

above Eldorado Springs. The velocity of approach was determined 

by the slope of the water surface above the dam, as indicated by highwater marks. The peak flow was found to be 8,180 second-feet. 

A slope-area measurement made at Eldorado Springs indicated a discharge of 8,540 second-feet.

The State engineer, in cooperation with the Geological Survey, 

maintains a gaging station 1% miles above Eldorado Springs. L. T. 

Burgess, chief hydrographer of Colorado, made a slope-area measurement at the gaging station and found the peak flow at that point to be 

7,400 second-feet. The stages on the recorder chart indicated the 

following discharges during the flood:

Discharge of South Boulder Creek near Eldorado Springs, Sept. 2-3, 1938

Secondfeet

Sept. 2, 7 p. m.____.__________ 90

7:30 p. m_.___________ 470

8 p. m___________.____ 970

8:30 p. m_____________ 1,850

9 p. m_______.________ 3,500

9:30 p. m__--______.__ 5, 500

10 p. m._______.___ .__ 7,400

10:30 p. m___---..---_ 7,400

11 p. m_______________ 6,900

Second*

jeet 

Sept. 2, 11:30 p. m____________ 5, 800

Midnight...__________ 4,900

Sept. 3, 1 a. m________________ 3, 900

2 a. m________________ 3,100

3 a. ni________________ 2,400

4 a. m________________ 1,800

5 a. m________________ 1,300

7 a. m________________ 1,020

10 a. m_______________ 855

Eldorado Springs is a summer resort at the mouth of a narrow 

canyon. Because of lack of space some of the resort buildings extend 

over the creek, and the flood, by undermining their foundations, 

wrecked these buildings. In addition, several residences not over the 

creek were carried away by the flood. The four bridges in Eldorado

755376 47-
46 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Springs were destroyed. The Boulder County Miner and Farmer, 

September 8, 1938, reports:

All the way from Eldorado Springs down the creek, there is destruction trees, 

fences out, fertile soil washed away, large rocks deposited on tillable ground, 

bridges out, gardens ruined, and debris of all kinds.

THOMPSON RIVER

Above a point about 5 miles west of Loveland the Thompson River 

drains the Front Range, but below that point it leaves the mountains 

and crosses the plains for a distance of 29 miles to its mouth. Through 

the lower 13 miles of its mountain course the river has a fall of 55 feet 

per mile, and across the plains its average fall is 25 feet per mile.

Gaging stations on Thompson River

Station

At mouth, near La S

Drainage

area (square

miles)

SIS

Period of record

June 1930 to date.

September 1917 to December 1926.

October 1928 to date.

March 1927 to September 1930; April 1938 to date.

April 1888 to September 1892; Mav 1895 to September

19W>; April 1902 to September 1911. 

April to November 1914; March 1927 to date.

1 Large diversion just above Arkins.

During the widespread floods of May and June 1864, the lowlands 

in the Thompson Valley were submerged, settlers' cabins washed 

away, and meadows destroyed.

The general storm of May 31-June 1, 1894, caused a flood which 

destroyed the Home Supply Co.'s dam near the mouth of the canyon. 

The Loveland Reporter of June 7, 1894, stated:

Flood destroyed the Home Supply dam, its solid masonry having proved insufficient to cope with the immense volume of water. This immense body of 

water tearing along the river bed was bound to create havoc among the people. 

The Big English ditch went on a rampage. When it was cut, and its water 

joined the Big Thompson, the latter was fully half a mile wide and increasing.

During the operation of the Arkins station, located 600 feet below 

the diversion for the Home Supply ditch, near the mouth of the canyon 

and 9 miles west of Loveland, the highest discharge recorded was 

6,000 second-feet during the flood of July 7, 1906, which washed out 

the bridge at the station. No additional information is available 

except that the mean discharge for July 7 was 2,600 second-feet, 

indicating that the peak, although lasting longer than that caused 

by a cloudburst, did not continue for more than a few hours.

During the period of operation of the other gaging stations, the 

maximum stage of 9.5 feet occurred below Loveland Dam, 1% miles 

east of Drake, at 6 p. m. July 31, 1919, caused by a cloudburst a short
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 47

distance above Drake. The peak discharge of 8,000 second-feet was 

of such short duration that the mean daily discharge for July 31 was 

only 490 second-feet, and for August 1, only 311 second-feet. This 

cloudburst, which occurred during the storm that caused the flood on 

St. Vrain Creek, resulted in a flood on Thompson River, which was

described by the Loveland Daily Herald, of August 1, 1919, as follows:

rr

With a rush and a roar a 10-foot wall of water swept down through the Big 

Thompson canyon between 7 and 8 last night after one of the worst cloudbursts 

in the history of this canyon. * * * The water came down, sweeping logs, 

planks, and bridges before it in a mad swirl. * * * The road bed was 

washed out to bedrock. During the worst of the flood, the entire road bed was 

covered with 2 feet of water, except at the highest points. ___

As no mention is made of damage on the plains area east of the 

canyon, it is evident that the peak was reduced rapidly by channel 

and valley storage.

In the Thompson River Basin the general rains of June 2-7, 1921, 

wore heaviest east of the mountains. At Estes Park the precipitation for the 4-day period June 2-5, was only 2.05 inches. East of 

the mountains, the precipitation was 5.29 inches at Longmont and 

3.02 inches at Fort Collins. High water destroyed the recorder at 

the Drake gaging station, and no data regarding the peak discharge 

are available. The heavier precipitation east of the mountains increased the flow of Thompson River very materially and caused it 

to overflow its banks. The Lyons Recorder, June 9, 1921, stated 

that at a point near the river about half a mile from Loveland a 

house, with its occupants, was washed from its foundation and 

carried nearly half a mile downstream, lodging in a grove of trees.

From June 7 to 10, 1923, rains occurred again over the Thompson 

River Basin. Near Longs Peak in the upper part of the basin the 

rainfall was 2.55 inches on June 9 and 2.99 inches for the 4-day 

period. At Waterdale, at the mouth of Buckhorn Creek, which 

enters Thompson River east of the main canyon but between two of 

the several hogbacks forming the foothills, the precipitation was 1.97 

inches on June 9, and 2.80 inches for the 4-day period. A record of 

1.27 inches at Greeley for the 4-day period indicated that the precipitation was considerably less east of the mountains. During this 

period the peak discharge recorded at the gaging station near Drake 

was 3,590 second-feet at 6 p. m. June 9 and at 6 a. m. June 10. Only 

two staff-gage readings per day are available, however, and it is 

probable that the discharge was greater during the night of June 9- 

10. The precipitation below the gaging station evidently increased 

the flow of the river very considerably, as indicated by the report in 

the Loveland Reporter-Herald of June 9, 1923:

At four o'clock (today) floodwaters from the Big Thompson, which has over-
48 FLOODS IN COLORADO

flowed its banks in a number of places, had reached West First Street in the 

city and covered a large portion of ground occupied by road-making machinery. 

The cement paving south of Loveland is covered with water to a depth of over a 

foot. The Estes Park road and the valley near the plaster mills are covered.

The water commissioner estimated that the flow of the river below 

the canyon was 7,000 second-feet, of which 5,000 second-feet was 

being diverted into storage reservoirs.

One of the areas of heaviest precipitation during the general storm 

of September 1938 was the foothills part of the Thompson River Basin 

as far east as Fort Collins. Records of precipitation in or near the 

Thompson River Basin for the period September 1 4, as reported by 

the Weather Bureau are given below.

Precipitation, in inches, in Thompson River Basin, Sept. 1-4, 1938

Station Altitude 

(feet)

8, 000 

8, 956 

5,206

4,985

September

1

0.12 

.09

.32

2

0.71 

.30 

5.35 

1.14

3

1.93 

2.50 

3.22 

3.54

4

0.19 

.27 

.47 

.09

Total

2.95 

3.16 

9.01 

5.09

The operator at the Loveland filter plant, 1% miles west of Loveland and 2 miles west of Waterdale, had a small rain gage formerly 

used by the Weather Bureau. He reported precipitation as follows:

Precipitation at Loveland filter plant

Inches

4.15 p. m. to 7:15 p. m________________________ 3. 25

7:15 p. m., to Sept. 2, 6 a. m_ ___________________ 2. 00

Sept. 2, 6 a. m. to Sept. 3, 6 a. m______________________ 2. 90

Sept. 4_. ._.______.-.-.__-__-.__-___---- .______-..___ . 58

Sept. 1 

Sept. 1

A second storm, consisting chiefly of a series of cloudbursts, occurred 

in the foothills area September 10, 1938. Like the storm earlier in 

September, its effect was chiefly on the tributary streams, where 

sharp flood flows of short duration resulted. At a point on Redstone 

Creek, 6% miles above Masonville, a rancher stated that during this 

storm a 10-inch bucket in the yard was filled and ran over. In spite 

of the heavy precipitation, no outstanding flood occurred on the 

Thompson River; the peak discharge at the gaging station near the 

mouth of the canyon was 5,600 second-feet, and at the gaging station 

near the mouth of the river 3,000 second-feet. This was due partly 

to the fact that the extensive reservoir system in the Thompson Valley 

diverted the water during this period. The chief damage from flood
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 49

was to the recently completed highway in the canyon, which was 

washed out in 10 places. In its lower course the river overflowed its 

banks, particularly below the mouth of Little Thompson River.

The intense precipitation caused floods on several tributary streams 

in the foothills, and these were investigated by the Geological Survey. 

Dixon Gulch, draining an area of 2.15 square miles, enters Thompson 

River at the head of Loveland Canyon 2 miles above the canyon 

gaging station and 3% miles above the Loveland Reservoir filter beds. 

Heavy precipitation caused a sharp rise at 7 p. m. September 1, which 

lasted only about 10 minutes. A slope-area measurement made near 

the mouth of Loveland Canyon showed a peak flow of 3,620 secondfeet, or 1,680 second-feet per square mile. This flood undoubtedly 

was a contributing factor to the peak flow of 5,600 second-feet at 

8 p. m. on the Thompson River at the canyon station. Green Ridge 

Glade, a small gulch that enters Thompson River at the filter beds, 

had a peak discharge of 980 second-feet at 7:15 p. m. September 1, as 

determined from high-water marks of discharge through a 7-foot concrete pipe. This represented a unit run-off of 778 second-feet per 

square mile. Two slightly smaller peaks occurred during the night of 

September 1-2; these were estimated at about 950 second-feet each. 

Dry Creek, ordinarily a very small stream draining the foothills south 

of Thompson River, which it enters midway between Buckhorn Creek 

and Loveland, was reported by the Water Commissioner to have had a 

discharge of 1,500 second-feet.

Cedar Creek, which enters Thompson River three-quarters of a mile 

above Dixon Gulch, had a flood about 7 p. m. September 3, of sufficient 

volume to wash out the bridges over the creek. The rainfall was very 

heavy near the mouth of the creek but did not extend very far up 

Thompson River above it. A second flood on Cedar Creek about 7 

p. m., September 10, was higher than that of September 3. A slopearea measurement of this flood at the mouth of the creek in sec. 8, 

T. 5 N., R. 70 W., showed a peak discharge of 2,940 second-feet, or 

156 second-feet per square mile from a drainage area of 18.9 square 

miles.

BUCKHORN CREEK

The lower part of the area drained by Buckhorn Creek, consists of 

three narrow troughlike valleys lying in the foothills west of Loveland. 

This part is subject to cloudbursts. Buckhorn Creek has a fall of 42 

feet per mile from its mouth to Redstone Creek, and 93 feet per mile 

for a distance of 8 miles above Redstone Creek. Redstone Creek has 

a fall of 99 feet per mile, for a distance of 7 miles above its mouth. 

Missouri Canyon which enters Buckhorn Creek 3 miles below Masonville, has an average fall of 147 feet per mile.

Subsequent to the general storm over the Thompson River Basin,
50 FLOODS IN COLORADO

June 7 10, 1923, heavy rains occurred June 14 16 over an area extending from a point a few miles east of Greeley to the western edge 

of R. 70 W. in the foothills region, and appeared to center over the 

lower part of Buckhorn Creek Basin. The resulting flood, the highest known on Buckhorn Creek and several of its tributaries, was 

investigated within a few days by the Geological Survey, and the 

results were published.23 The area affected extended from the mouth 

of Buckhorn Creek to a point 5 miles above Masonville and a short 

distance above the mouth of Missouri Canyon. A 30-minute rainfall 

of 2^ inches was measured in a tub.

The following table shows' the peak discharge at the three points 

measured:

Peak discharge in Buckhorn Creek Basin, June 15, 1923

Stream

Buckhorn Creek...,

Missouri Canyon. ..

Location

Half a mile south of Masonville . _

Nea.r mouth, sec. 26, T. 6 N., R.

70 W.

Drainage area 

(square miles)

Total

134

31

2.4

Area

producing

flood

40

21

2.4

Peak discharge

Secondfeet

10. 500

6,820

4,350

Secondfeet per

square

mile of

area affected

2f,2

325

1.810

Time of 

flood

cre^L

10 p. m.

10 p. m.

6:30 p. in.

A peak discharge of almost equal amount occurred on Buckhorn 

Creek following the storm of September 1, 1938, in the foothills area. 

The area of precipitation did not extend more than 2 miles above 

Masonville on the main stream, but in the tributary basin of Redstone Creek, the storm extended practically to the head of the basin. 

A slope-area measurement of the flood on Redstone Creek, which 

occurred at 10 p. m. September 1, was made a quarter of a mile above 

its mouth, and the peak discharge was determined at 8,400 secondfeet, or 271 second-feet per square mile from a drainage area of 31 

square miles. The peak discharge of Buckhorn Creek at a point 2% 

miles below Masonville was 10,200 second-feet, or 196 second-feet per 

square mile from the 52 square miles affected by the storm. The 

greater part of this flow was absorbed by Buckhorn Reservoir, which 

is located a mile below the point of measurement, and has a capacity 

of 650 acre-feet.

During the storm of September 10, 1938, a cloudburst centered over 

Missouri Canyon. A rancher living in sec. 23, T. 6 N., R. 70 W., 

1% miles above the mouth of Missouri Canyon, measured in a straightsided can a rainfall of about 5 inches, which occurred between 6 and

M Follansbee, Robert, and Hodges, P. V., Some floods in the Rocky Mountain region; U. S. Oeol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 520, pp. 123-124, 1925.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 51

7 p. m., September 10, most of it within 20 minutes. Another rancher 

who lives 1 mile above the mouth of Missouri Canyon measured in a 

straight-sided can about 7 inches of rain which fell within half an hour. 

Half a mile south, a rainfall of 2% inches was reported. A slope-area 

measurement of the flow of Missouri Canyon in sec. 26, T. 6 N., R. 

70 W., showed a peak discharge of 2,130 second-feet from a drainage 

area of 2.37 square miles, or 899 second-feet per square mile.

CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER

Above Bellvue the Cache la Poudre River drains the Front Range, 

and for a distance of 13 miles above the gaging station at the mouth 

of the canyon the fall is 63 feet per mile. Across the plains from the 

mouth of the canyon to the mouth of the river, a distance of 41 miles, 

the fall is 16 feet per mile.

Gaging stations in Cache la Poudre River Basin

Station

North Fork Cache la Poudre River at 

Liverraore. 

Cache la Poudre River at mouth of canyon, 

near Fort Collins.

Drainage area 

(square miles)

541 

1,048 

1,840

Period of record

May 1929 to September 1931.

March 1884 to date (earlier years fragmentary) . March 1903 to November 1904; February 1914

to December 1919; May 1924 to date.

In connection with meager evidence of a widespread flood in 1844, 

Watrous 24 quotes a letter from Antoine Janis, a French trapper who 

was living on the river near the present town of Laporte:

On the first of June, 1844, I stuck my stake on a claim in the valley. * * * 

At that time the streams were all very high and the Valley black with buffalo.

In the same volume Watrous refers to a flood in 1864:

Fort Collins, the county seat and principal town in Larimer County, owes its 

origin and first place on the map to the intervention of a flood in the Cache la 

Poudre River. This flood occured on the last days of May and first days of June 

1864 and is said to have been the worst known by white men. The water poured 

out of the banks of the stream and inundated the valley from bluff to bluff with 

a torrent that carried everything not firmly attached to the soil with it.

It carried out the toll bridge at Laporte at a time when the movement of emigration westward was the heaviest, and more than 200 emigrants were stalled on 

the bluffs south of Laporte, being unable to ford the stream because of high 

water. * * *

In the spring of 1864, under the influence of the sun's warm rays, the great 

masses of snow melted on the hillsides and torrents of water came pouring down 

from the slopes into the channel of the Cache la Poudre, swelling the stream even 

with its banks. On the 9th of June, an extraordinary rainstorm set in on the 

watershed of the upper part of the river, melted the snow in the higher altitudes

24 Watrous, Ansel, History of Larimer County: Conner Printing & Publishing Co., Fort Collins, Colo., 

1911.
52 FLOODS IN COLORADO

and an enormous volume of water laden with driftwood, poured into the already 

swollen channel, and the sullen roar of the rushing stream as it burst out of the 

canyon was heard for a long distance. On reaching the plains, the water spread 

out and submerged the bottom lands from bluff to bluff to a depth of several feet. 

The storm occurred in the afternoon and the raging torrent, plunging like the waves 

of the sea under the impulse of a gale, swept down through the soldiers' camp 

[at Laporte] in the night almost without warning. * * * When morning 

broke a scene of desolation presented itself to view. The campgrounds were 

completely submerged and only the roofs of the cabins that had withstood the 

onrush of water were visible, while as far as the eye could reach up and down the 

river nothing but a raging sea of muddy water could be seen. Fortunately, no 

lives were lost, but there were several narrow escapes by the settlers on the bottom 

lands.

Watrous also quotes a letter from Lt. Col. W. O. Collins, written 

August 21, 1864, to Gen. E. B. Mitchell:

The present site [of the military post] is within the town of Laporte. * * * 

The ground is subject to overflow, the whole having been under water and much 

public property damaged about the 10th of June last.

Concerning the storm of May 22 and 23, 1876, the Greeley Tribune 

of May 24, 1876, stated:

The Cache la Poudre is higher than at any time since the settlement of the 

colony [1870]. It is reported that two bridges on the [Big] Thompson have been 

carried away by the flood. The river bottom between Greeley and the Jackson 

Street Bridge is all under water. At the Oak Street Bridge the water was up to 

the caps; at 6 p. m. last evening [May 23] it had fallen 2 inches. From [Fort] 

Collins we hear that the river had fallen considerably so that our bridges may now 

be considered out of danger.

The melting of the unusually heavy snow cover of the winter of 

1883-84 caused a total discharge for the year that was more than 200 

percent of the average annual discharge for the period 1884 to date. 

The recording gage which had been established in the spring of 1884 

at the mouth of the canyon was washed out a few days before the 

highest discharge, which occurred on June 28; therefore no complete 

gage-height record of this flood exists. At a later date the discharge 

during the period of missing gage heights was estimated, the maximum 

24-hour discharge oil June 28 being estimated at 5,610 second-feet. 

By comparison with peak flows of floods in later years this was not a 

large flood. The only known reference to overflow during the 1884 

high water is the statement in the Fort Collins Express, June 17, 1923, 

that in 1884 the Boyd farm northwest of Greeley was entirely under 

water for the first time.

The failure, June 9, 1891, of the wasteway at the Chambers Lake 

Reservoir on the headwaters of the Cache la Poudre River caused a 

severe flood on that river. According to the local newspaper, the 

break was apparently caused by increased melting of the mountain 

snow, due to the warm weather a few days before. This flood de-
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 53

stroyed the recorder at the gaging station near the mouth of the 

canyon, hence no official record is available. The water commissioner, 

who was the observer, stated that the peak discharge was about 21,000 

second-feet.25 This estimate was evidently based on a high-water 

mark and the extension of the rating curve. Although the recorder 

was destroyed, a record of the mean daily discharge during the flood 

period was maintained, presumably by means of a staff gage, and the 

mean daily discharge for the entire month was computed. That for 

June 7-14 is as follows:

Discharge of Cache la Poudre River, June 7-14, 1891

Second-feet Second-feet

June 7______--.-___ 1,900 

8___._-_.___ 2,440 

9-____-----___._ 5,060 

10___-_-._______ 3,600

June 11-._-__.-_-______ 3,060

12__-_______________ 2,640

13-.__._-_____ 2, 190 

14_______-__________ 1,860

The Fort Collins Courier, in its issue of June 11, 1891, gives the 

following account of this flood:

About 4 p. m. June 9, the water superintendent was notified that a terrific 

flood was rushing down the [Cache la] Poudre canyon carrying everything before it.

On came the mad, rushing torrent toward the plains, with deafening roar, 

carrying everything in its way to destruction. Bridges, fences, headgates, 

buildings, cattle, and horses were swept into the whirling, roaring, rushing flood. 

The island below the LaPorte bridge, on which lived J. J. Nugent and family, 

was completely submerged, the water covering the floor of Mr. Nugent's house to 

a depth of 2% feet.

The flood reached the railroad bridge north of the city [Fort Collins] about 5 

p. m. * * * The bottomlands between the millrace and river were nearly 

all under water. The meadows and fields on the north and east side of the river 

were flooded.

An eye witness of the flood as it broke through the Poudre canyon says the wall 

of water was fully 10 feet high and that logs and trees were tossed about like twigs.

The flood of May 20-21, 1904, was the greatest on the Cache la 

Poudre River for which definite evidence is available. It was caused 

by heavy rains of cloudburst intensity in the foothills on the headwaters of the North Fork Cache la Poudre River and Boxelder Creek 

at an altitude of about 7,000 feet. The only rainfall records in this 

area were those at Alford (altitude 6,350 feet), and at Boxelder (altitude 

7,160 feet). The Alford record showed a precipitation of 2.66 inches 

for the 2-day period May 19-20. As the upper foothills are at a higher 

altitude, the Alford record does not represent the greatest precipitation 

in the area. The record at Boxelder indicated a total of 8 inches for 

the 2-day period, but the Weather Bureau rejected this record as 

excessive. In view of the flood which followed, however, it would 

appear that the record was not greatly in error, especially as the

25 Colorado State Engineer, 6th Bienn. Kept., p. 22, L893.
54 FLOODS IN COLORADO

observer stated that the storm was the worst that had occurred in 

that region in years.

J. A. Armstrong,26 irrigation engineer, investigated the flood on the 

North Fork Cache la Poudre River, and the following is abstracted 

from this report:

The floods down these creeks were caused by a continuous heavy rain, or a 

succession of cloudbursts commencing before noon of the 20th and lasting 5 or 

6 hours, centering about Stonewall Mountain at the head of Stonewall Creek. 

This area is entirely clear of timber or forest growth of any kind. Stonewall, 

Dale, and Lone Pine Creeks are all tributary to the North Fork Cache la Poudre 

River. The flood was down into Livermore, only a few miles, almost before 

anyone could remove anything out of the way, and had it been at night, there 

would probably have been great loss of life as well as property. The volume 

of water passing Livermore has been estimated at 20,000 cubic feet per second.

The flood reached the Cache la Poudre River early in the afternoon 

of May 20 and was augmented above Fort Collins by floods from 

Dry Creek, Hook Canyon, and Moore Canyon. In describing the 

flood below the canyon the Greeley Tribune of May 26, stated:

About the first warning of danger that people up the valley had was when 

a wall of water 10 to 14 feet high burst out of the Poudre Canyon [early in the 

afternoon], a couple of miles above Laporte. As quick as possible word was 

telephoned to Fort Collitis of the coming flood, and the paople of Laporte sought 

safety on high ground. When the water reached the open valley it spread over 

a surface of about a mile and its spaed was somewhat slackened.

The flood reached Fort Collins late in the afternoon May 20 and 

continued for about 3 hours, during which time about 150 houses in 

the lowlands, occupied by Russian beet workers, were swept from 

their foundations and carried some distance downstream. All bridges 

but one in Fort Collins were destroyed.

Five miles below Fort Collins the flood from Boxelder Creek entered 

the Cache la Poudre River. Concerning Boxelder Creek the Greeley 

Tribune stated:

The Boxelder, a small stream ordinarily only a few feet wide, was tearing down 

through a fertile valley filled from bluff to bluff with a sheet of water a mile wide, 

carrying buildings and bridges away in its mad rush.

Below the mouth of Boxelder Creek the flood waters of the two 

streams reached a width of \% miles in places.

The flood reached Greeley about 8:30 the next morning, May 21, and 

as the channel was too small to carry it, and the culvert under the 

Union Pacific Railroad tracks was also inadequate, the water backed 

up and overflowed a large area in the city. Below the railroad the 

lowlands were also overflowed, and the houses in that area were 

submerged to their window sills. Flood stage continued until noon; 

when the water fell almost as rapidly as it had risen.

2« Armstrong, J. A., Flood on Cache la PoudreJRiver: U. S. Oeol.'Survey^Water-Supply Paper 147, 

pp. 154-156, 1905.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 55

The somewhat widely held view that the dam at Chambers Lake 

failed and that its failure was an important factor in the flood of 1904 

has been found erroneous. Chambers Lake Dam failed, not in 1904, 

but in 1907.

In Armstrong's report (see p. 54) no statement was made regarding the flood in the canyon of the Cache la Poudre River below the 

mouth of North Fork and above Hook and Moore Canyons. The 

gaging station in that section of river was destroyed by the flood, 

therefore no gage-height record exists.

Testimony regarding the relative magnitude of the flood of 1904 

and that of 1864 is conflicting. Armstrong's report states that people 

living in the valley since 1859 reported that the flood of 1904 was 

about 1.5 feet higher than the flood of 1864. On the other hand, 

the Fort Collins Express, May 25, 1904, quotes J. J. Coy, who 

lived at the same place near the river during both floods, as being 

sure that the flood of 1904 was greatly exceeded by that of 1864 and 

that, although the channel was wider and carried more water in 1864 

than in 1904, the flood of 1864 reached a higher point on his property.

The widespread storm of June 2-7, 1921, covered the Cache la 

Poudre River Basin, but was not severe in the upper part, above the 

canyon gaging station, nor at the mouth, as is shown by the following 

records:

Precipitation, in inches, in Cache la Poudre River Basin, June 2-7, 1921

Altitude Precipitation 

(feet) (inches)

Frys Ranch (above station)___.____________-_..____-___- 7, 500 1. 71

Laporte----_-----_-_-_-_-___-_-----_-_-_-_---_______--. 5, 063 3. 74

Fort Collins______--_.-_-_.___-_____________-_-_-________ 4, 985 3. 64

Greeley--------_-----___-__-__-_-_-_-__-_--______-_____ 4, 637 1. 86

daily discharge of Cache la Poudre River at gaging station at mouth of canyon,

June 2-14, 1921 

[From reports of State Engineer of Colorado]

/Second. 

feet

June 9-___--__-_______--_---- 4, 520

10___-_-_-___-_-------_- 4,450

11..._________-_-_ 4,450

12___________.__.___._.- 4,450

13_.______--__._----__ 4,080

14___.________-_.___. - 3,700

The heavy rainfall at Laporte and Fort Collins caused a considerable increase in the discharge below the canyon, as shown by the 

following statement in the Loveland Daily Herald of June 9, 1921:

The [Cache la] Poudre River, which has been high for the last 2 days, is dropping slowly. It is thought that the danger from a flood is over. For some time,

June 2.... ---------

3 _. --------

4

o

6_. ______ ___

7... ______...

8._____ __ --

Secondfeet

----------- 2, 660

__.-_.-.___ 2,780

_..._.-._._ 3, 850

___________ 3,480

_-__..-_.__ 3,340

_ ________ 3, 620

_-. _ _____ 4. 680
56 FLOODS IN COLORADO

however, the water was bank high, and 3 inches would have put it over the 

bottoms.

At 2 o'clock Thursday morning [June 9] the [Cache la] Poudre was a raging torrent, threatening homes in "Jungles" district of Fort Collins and farm lands to the 

south and east. Within a fraction of a foot of high-water mark reached at 

dawn Wednesday morning [June 8]. It seemed inevitable that all former records 

would be brokeQ and considerable damage done.

Subsequent issues of the newspaper contain no statement regarding 

the river, which indicates that it subsided without breaking any 

records. By the time the flood reached Greeley the peak had been 

so reduced that little or no overflow occurred.

The flood of June 1923 was caused by a combination of melting snow 

and heavy rains. At the end of March, when the last report for 

the season was made, the snow cover was about 50 percent above 

normal. During April the precipitation and temperature were 

below normal. During May the temperature was below normal, 

but the precipitation was considerably above, being 1.5 to 1.6 inches 

above normal at the three stations in the basin. Thus it is evident 

that the snow cover on June 1 was markedly above normal, although 

no record of its depth has been found. June was one of the wettest 

months on record, precipitation occurring almost every day beginning 

the 2d and culminating in severe rains on the 9th. After a lapse of 

several days, rain again fell on the 14th and 15th.

Daily precipitation, in inches, in Cache la Poudre River Basin, June 1-18, 1923

June

I....... ................... . __________

2_. ________________________________________

3

4

5.- --- - -__- -

6

7.- - -- - _ - ._

8 ________________ _________ , . -_______._

9

10. - -_----- . _

11 ___--._ _ _- _

12_ -_-._____..__________ _ __________

13 . _

14:. _-----____._-_______.-_. _______________

15__ --_-______--___.._________. ________

16---- - 

18 

Frys Ranch 

(altitude 

7,500 feet)

0.60

Tr.

30

80

2 10

Tr.

Laporte 

(altitude 

5,063 feet)

0.38

.37

.06

2.28

.21

.88

1.01

Fort Collins (altitude 4,985 

feet)

0.30

.53

.17

.44

.08

.05

2.30

.23

1.41

.66

Tr.

Estes Park 

(altitude 

8,000 feet)

Tr.

0.12

.04

.05

.20

.50

1.45

.10

.06

.13

.25

Near Longs 

Peak (altitude 8,950 

feet )

0. 33

.35

.25

.24

. 15

2.55

. 05

. 15

These Weather Bureau records do not show the heavy rains of cloudburst intensity which occurred June 

15 in the Buckhorn Creek Basin just south of the Cache la Poudre River Basin and which extended into 

the Cache la Poudre River Basin above the paging station at the mouth of the canyon, as recorded by the 

local press.

The daily discharge of the Cache la Poudre at the canyon gaging 

station, was as follows:
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER

Daily discharge of the Cache la Poudre River, June 1-30, 1923 

[Data from report of Colorado State Engineer]

57

June

 >

6 ----_.

9

10

11

12

15 _. ... _____________

Discharge 

(secondfeet)

,160

,260

,200

,180

,060

2,010

5, 020

7, 350

6,180

4, 540

4,540

1 6, lf>0

June

16

17-. ... . ._ -_..

18___-_ .-_-_----_---.-. --

19

20 .. ...

21 . .- 

22

23.. ----- . . -

24 .. _ ...

25----. -_.._ -_ -_ ...

26 ... -. _

27

28

29

30 _ _

Discharge 

(secondfeet)

A nan

3,240

0 HAfl

2,670

2,920

2,780

2. 480

9 480

! Peak discharge, 8,550 second-feet.

Regarding the flood of June 15-16, the Fort Collins Express, 

June 16, 1923, stated:

Fed by mountain cloudbursts and heavy general rains, the [Cache la] Poudre 

River last night in 2 hours became a raging torrent. Cloudbursts, one at Livermore and another at a point not far away from there, late in the afternoon sent 

a wall of water down the canyon. At Laporte and Fort Collins the river rose 

2 feet in as many hours.

In its issue of June 17, 1923, the Fort Collins Express published 

a dispatch from Greeley which read:

High water on the [Cache la] Poudre second only to the flood of 1904, tonight 

shut off all travel on highways north and west of the city and had driven a score 

of families from their homes on the lowlands. The south channel of the [Cache 

la] Poudre is within a few inches of the Union Pacific track between here and 

Cheyenne. Three feet, of water has driven tourists from their camp ground 

in the bottoms. The Boyd farm northwest of here was entirely under water 

for the first time since 1884.

Heavy rains in the North Fork Cache la Poudre River Basin, May 

31, 1930, caused the highest flood on the North Fork since 1904 and 

a flood on the Cache la Poudre River at the canyon gaging station 

that ranked third in the list of known floods in that area. The 

Geological Survey investigated the flood on the North Fork Cache 

la Poudre River within a few days. The storm that caused the flood 

appeared to originate in the foothills southwest of Livermore, where 

the altitude ranges from 7,000 to 7,500 feet. It traveled northwest, 

releasing heavy precipitation about 7 miles northwest of Livermore, 

and ended in a hailstorm that covered the ground with hail to a 

depth of several inches. At Livermore the rain started at 3 p. m. 

and continued until 6 p. m., with the heaviest fall about 5 o'clock. 

No record of the amount of precipitation is available. The North
2. _ ____ __ .

Secondfeet

___________ 150

___________ 1,670

_-___._-__ 451

___-__.___ 355

58 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Fork Cache la Poudre River started to rise about 5 p. m. and reached 

its peak an hour later at a stage of 9.82 feet on the Livermore gage. 

The river remained high until 8 p. m., then dropped rapidly. The 

peak discharge was 6,800 second-feet, as determined by a slope-area 

measurement. A small area at Livermore was inundated. The 

mean daily discharge was as follows:

Mean daily discharge of North Fork Cache la Poudre River, May 80 to Jtme 6, 1930

Secondfeet

June 3__-______________________ 298

4__._-_-_ _______________ 241

5____. ____________________ 219

6__.___._._.____ ____.____ 179

Between Livermore and the canyon gaging station on the Cache la 

Poudre River about 14 miles downstream, the flood traversed a 

narrow valley terminating in a canyon with little or no channel 

storage. The flood reached the canyon station at 8:15 p. m., May 

30, and destroyed the gage recorder, but from the high-water marks 

the peak stage was found to be 7.9 feet gage height and the peak discharge 10,200 second-feet. The Fort Collins Express-Courier, June 1, 

1930, states that the storm, which extended into the upper basin of 

the Cache la Poudre River, was not sufficient to increase materially 

the flow above the mouth of North Fork. That flow was about 2,000 

second-feet, indicating that the flood peak on North Fork was about 

8,000 second-feet. No definite information regarding the duration 

of the flood is available, but as the flood reached Fort Collins, 12 

miles downstream, about 10 p. m. and lasted only 2 hours, it is evident 

that its duration at the canyon station could not have been longer 

than 2 hours and was probably less. The mean discharge for May 31 

was determined by the State engineer as 2,700 second-feet.

The chief damage by the flood was wrought on bridges, highways, 

and irrigation canal head gates, above Fort Collins. In that city 

the river, although bank full, did not overflow its channel.

The storm of September 1-4, 1938, in the Cache la Poudre River 

Basin appeared to be concentrated below the mouth of the canyon 

in the vicinity of Bellvue and Fort Collins. The only precipitation 

recorded in the basin was at Fort Collins, 5.59 inches, and at Greeley, 

1.55 inches. The peak discharge at the gaging station in the canyon 

was 1,660 second-feet, and at the mouth, 1,100 second-feet. The 

flood run-off near Fort Collins is described in the Fort Collins ExpressCourier of September 2, 1938:

Flood waters which poured into the Bellvue area from La Bow Gulch Thursday 

evening swept 50,000 rainbow trout from the fish hatchery half a mile west of
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 59

Bellvue. The flood, which was carried into the hatchery area about 7 p. m., 

inundated the roads with a foot of water and washed over the hatchery ponds.

On September 4 the same newspaper stated:

Some of the places where uncontrolled water struck were the Colorado State 

College campus, Bellvue, the State fish hatchery south of Bellvue, Soldier Canyon, 

the No. 10 district, and Spring Canyon. None of the excessive water came from 

the Cache la Poudre, freshets from smaller canyons and run-off from hillsides 

being responsible for the damage.

The flood from one of these small tributaries, Spring Canyon, 

was investigated. Spring Canyon drains the hogback region southwest of Fort Collins and enters Dry Creek, which in turn enters the 

Cache la Poudre River 2 miles below Fort Collins. The drainage 

area of Spring Canyon, lying immediately east of Buckhorn and 

Redstone Creeks, received intensive precipitation September 2. 

A. D. Thompson, who lived in Spring Canyon in sec. 31, T. 7 N., R. 

69 W., stated that the precipitation of September 1-3 filled and 

overflowed a 12-inch bucket in his yard, most of the rain falling 

before overflow occurred. From the shape of the bucket it was 

estimated that 11 inches of rain fell during that period. The peak 

of the flood reached the Thompson residence between 3:30 and 4 p. m. 

September 2, and lasted but a few minutes. A slope-area measurement of the flood in sec. 32, T. 7 N., R. 69 W., indicated a discharge of 

11,600 second-feet, or 1,590 second-feet per square mile from the 

drainage area of 7.31 square miles.

CHERRY CREEK

Cherry Creek is a plains tributary draining an area of 420 square 

miles which extends from the divide between the South Platte and 

Arkansas River Basins to the mouth of the creek in Denver. The 

divide is an outlying spur of the foothills having an altitude of 7,500 

feet, and the upper part of Cherry Creek Basin is rugged in character. 

The headwater streams have a fall of 1,000 feet in 20 miles. Below 

that point the descent is less rapid, being 1,300 feet in 38 miles, or 

34 feet per mile. The drainage basin lies in the cloudburst zone east 

of the foothills.

Because of the normally small discharge of Cherry Creek, no gaging 

station was maintained on it prior to 1939.

Since the first settlement at Denver, in 1858, Cherry Creek has 

been a source of lively interest, and many references to it appear in 

the local press. When the first settlement was made by gold seekers, 

Cherry Creek, with its normally insignificant flow, was not considered 

a menace, and preparations were made to settle at the mouth of the 

stream. The Rocky Mountain News of July 27, 1885, contained the 

following account:

There is a tradition that when Count Murat and his party of permanent settlers
60 FLOODS IN COLORADO

first reached the mouth of Cherry Creek in the fall of 1858, friendly Indians 

warned them against camping in the bottoms on account of great floods which 

had come down the creek in times past, and when the Count and his party laughed 

at the idea of Cherry Creek producing floods the Indians pointed to the debris 

left by the falling waters in the tops of tall cottonwoods on the banks of the harmless looking gully. This unanswerable argument probably influenced the early 

settlers into going a few miles up the Platte and establishing the short-lived 

town of Montana [on Little Dry Creek at what is now Englewood].

No flood appeared, however, and the settlement at Montana was 

soon abandoned in favor of the site at the mouth of Cherry Creek. 

Later, disbelief in the flood of Indian legend was shaken somewhat, 

as indicated in the Rocky Mountain News, Aug. 1, 1860:

Cherry Creek appears to present a rather serious problem, for we have had a 

demonstration [following a heavy rain on the headwaters] of what may be expected 

from a heavy rainfall on the Divide, though we are not yet inclined to believe 

the Indian claims that the whole settlement is subject to flood.

The first large flood after Denver was settled in 1859 occurred May 

19-20, 1864. A description of that flood by Albert B. Sanford, 

curator of the State Historical Society Museum, appeared in the 

Colorado Magazine for May 1927:

Encroachments of owners of lots on what was commonly called the channel, by 

construction of stables and outbuildings had narrowed the narrow course to what 

was considered, by a sort of gentlemen's agreement, a reasonable right-of-way for 

the creek in caring for its drainage responsibilities. On the afternoon of May 19, 

1864, a moderate rain occurred in Denver, but for several hours heavy black clouds 

obscured the Divide and frequent rumblings of thunder were heard. * * * 

By midnight the great majority of citizens were in their beds. Suddenly those 

who chanced to be awake heard a strange sound in the south like the noise of the 

wind, which increased to a mighty roar as a great wall of water, bearing on its crest 

trees and other drift, rushed toward the settlement. * * *

The writer's parents viewed the flood at its peak, and from the journal kept by 

his mother, recording events of that period, we quote: "Camp Weld [barracks of 

the First Colorado Regiment, just south of Denver], May 25, 1864. On the night 

of the 19th the watchman of the Government corral pounded on our door with the 

startling intelligence that a great flood was coming down Cherry Creek and many 

people were drowning. We thought him fooling until the roar of the waters could 

be heard, as of a mighty tempest.

[Mr. S] rushed to the creek but returned quickly, saying I must see the awful 

sight. We found hundreds of people along the creek banks. Many of the women 

and children in their night clothes, having been rescued from their homes below 

by the cavalrymen from the barracks. By the light of bonfires along the creek, we 

could see the inky waves, 15 to 20 feet high, carrying trees, houses, cattle, and 

sheep and for all we know, human beings to certain destruction. * * *

Early in the forenoon of the 20th * * * a stout cord was thrown across 

the creek at its narrowest point. By gradually increasing the size of ropes, pulled 

back and forth, the final 2-inch ferry ropes were securely anchored and a "rope 

bridge" swung over the now receding but still dangerous waters.

The effect of the debris in increasing the overflow is shown by the 

following account in the Rocky Mountain News, July 27, 1885:
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 61

In the rising of 1864 by far the greatest amount of damage was done. * * * 

The bed of the creek was very narrow, comparatively, and what there was of it in 

the neighborhood of Larimer, Blake, and Holloday Street Bridges was taken up 

largely by buildings erected on timber bents which brought them to a level with 

the bridges. Those were swept away, of course, as were the bridges, and all 

together went to form a dam which restrained the flow of the engorged stream and 

caused the flooding of all the low land on both the east and west sides. * * * 

This greatly aggravated the catastrophe.

This flood is described by the Cherry Creek Flood Commission,27 

appointed by the mayor of Denver in 1912:

The first flood of which we have any record occurred on Thursday and Friday, 

May 19 and 20, 1864. The flood reached its maximum height about 2 a. m., 

May 20. This height it maintained until about 7 a. m., at which time the waters 

began to recede. This flood had its origin at the upper end of the Cherry Creek 

watershed, being occasioned by a heavy fall of alternating hail and rain, occurring 

on the afternoon of May 19. This storm extended over the watershed of Plum 

Creek also, which discharged into the South Platte River, making an unprecedented height. The two floods came together in Denver on the morning of the 

20th, covering the lower portions of the city with water to a depth of from 1 to 5 

feet, leaving great deposits of sand and gravel at different points, damaging property to the extent of several thousand dollars [a very serious matter to the city 

at that tirnej and drowning 19 citizens. At that time a large portion of the city 

was constructed directly within and near the bed of Cherry Creek and the South 

Platte River bottoms. The water was about 1 foot in depth at the corner of the 

intersection of Fifteenth and Blake Streets.

A view of this flood at Denver, taken from the above report, is 

shown on plate 1.

Every rise in Cherry Creek was given wide publicity. As there was 

no gaging station on that stream, because it ordinarily carries but 

little water, particularly in its lower section, definite data ragarding 

the flood discharge are lacking, except for a few floods. For that 

reason description of later Cherry Creek floods is confined to those of 

May 22, 1876; May 22, 1878; July 26, 1885; July 14, 1912; July 28, 

1922; and August 2-3, 1933. Minor floods were noted on May 20, 

1867; July 20, 1875; July 19, 1886'; August 18, 1888; August 3, 1897; 

June 6, 1921; July 13, 16, and 18, 1923; July 3, 1925; and May 31, 

1935.

The widespread storm of May 21-23, 1876, covered the Cherry 

Creek drainage basin. This storm started as snow, which later turned 

to rain in Denver, but in the upper part of the basin it is probable that 

a considerable part of the precipitation was in the form of snow. 

Referring to this flood, the Cherry Creek Flood Commission stated: 28

This flood would in all probability have been the greatest Cherry Creek flood 

known had it not been for the fact that the snow and cold prevented a rapid 

running off of the great amount of precipitation that had fallen. Throughout

27 Rpport of Cherry Creek Flood Commission, p. 28, Denver, 1913.

28 Op. cit., p. 14.

755376 47 5
62 FLOODS IN COLORADO

the afternoon and evening the banks of the Cherry Creek and South Platte River 

were lined with men, women, and children who waited, enduring the blinding 

storm of snow, standing ankle-deep in mud and slush, in anticipation of a flood 

of greater magnitude than that of 1864, both streams being but little below the 

high-water mark of that flood. However, no great damage was done at that time.

J. E. Field, consulting engineer, who remembers the flood of 1876, 

states that the flood stage was increased by the debris from bridges 

that had failed lodging against the Larimer Street Bridge. Below 

Larimer Street there was but little overflow. The Flood Commission's 

statement that the high-water mark was but little below that of 

1864 and that no great damage was done, appears to be explained 

by the situation described by Mr. Field.

The flood of May 22, 1878, was evidently caused by heavy rains of 

cloudburst intensity covering a limited part of the drainage basin. 

No widespread storm occurred at that time, as records of precipitation 

available for six stations in Colorado show no precipitation as great 

as half an inch in 24 hours except at Fort Lyon, in the Arkansas 

Valley. The precipitation at Denver was only 0.12 inch. The 

Cherry Creek Flood Commission 29 describes this flood as follows:

The fourth Cherry Creek flood recorded occurred on the morning of Wednesday, May 22, 1878. It was considered by many of the earlier residents of Denver 

to be as large as the flood of 1864. We are not informed as to exactly where or 

how this one originated. The damage resulting therefrom was not nearly so 

great as that from the flood of 1864. The reason for the decreased amount of 

damage appeared, however, to be due, not so much to any lesser flow of water, 

but rather to the facts that there were no buildings in the bed of the stream at the 

time of the 1878 flood: and, on the other hand, the channel of the creek was wider, 

deeper, and clearer than was the case at the time of the 1864 flood; and, furthermore, there appears to have been no especial flood in the South Platte River at 

this time, retarding the flow of Cherry Creek.

Albert B. Sanford, curator of the State Historical Society Museum, in an article in the Colorado Magazine, July 1937, states that all 

bridges across the stream in Denver were swept away within a few 

minutes after the first wave descended, and that two lives were lost 

and great damage done to property.

The flood of July 26, 1885, like that of May 22, 1878, was not 

caused by a general storm, but by local rains over the drainage basin 

of Cherry Creek, as the available records showed no heavy precipitation throughout Colorado

The Kocky Mountain News, July 27, 1885, mentions the floods of 

1864 and 1878 as the two great floods prior to that of 1885. Describing the flood of 1885, it states:

Shortly after 6 o'clock last evening persons crossing the Larimer Street Bridge 

saw a wave coming down Cherry Creek. * * * At 6:30 the scene from.

»»Op. cit., p. 14.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 63

Larimer Street Bridge was perfectly indescribable White-capped waves surged 

down in their mighty anger, threatening to engulf everything in their way, carrying on their surface huge timbers and debris from ill-fated bridges and buildings.

* * * At 1:30 this morning * * * the waters of the creek had greatly 

fallen and the flood seemed to be rapidly subsiding. * * * George Haffer 

[an old-timer] said there was fully as much water as in the flood of 1864, but that 

West Denver had been filled up and built up from 4 to 7 feet, so that the water on 

this occasion did not spread as much as the great flood of 1864.

The iron bridges yesterday stood the force of the flood perfectly. When built 

it was supposed they would never be touched by the rising waters of a flood, but 

yesterday the waves rolled over most of them and reached all.

The fact that the bridges were built after the experiences of 1864 

and 1878 would indicate, as the newspaper account infers, that this 

flood was probably greater than any previous flood.

The Cherry Creek Flood Commission 30 states:

We are not informed as to just what part of the valley was covered by this 

storm, or whether it was from a general storm covering the drainage area as a 

whole. Considerable damage was done by this flood. West Denver was flooded 

about as it was in the flood of July 14, 1912. Mr. C. P. Alien, engineer of the 

Water Company, and Mr. E. S. Nettlaton, State Engineer, estimated the discharge of this flood at its maximum to be 20,000 second-feet, the estimate being 

made at the Curtis Street Bridge by timing floats and measuring the existing 

channel. All railroad bridges over Cherry Creek from Wynkoop Street to the 

[South] Platte were washed away. Trains from the south loaded and unloaded 

their passengers at Sixth and Larimer Streets for several days.

The flood of July 14, 1912, is the first one on Cherry Creek for which 

detailed information is available. Soon after it occurred, the Mayor 

of Denver appointed the Cherry Creek Flood Commission, which-made 

an investigation of flood conditions and proposed a plan for relief 

from future floods. Much of the information presented here is taken, 

from the Commission's report.31 Two lives were lost, and property 

both in Denver and in the valley above Denver was damaged to the 

extent of more than $1,000,000. The city engineer prepared a map 

showing the area flooded in Denver. Along Cherry Creek from the 

city limits to a point about a mile above its mouth the flooded area 

covered a block and a half (900 feet) on the north bank and half a 

block on the south bank. Near the mouth the flood spread over the 

wide, fairly level bottom of the South Platte River, occupied chiefly 

by railroad yards. In all, 86 blocks in the residential district and 19 

blocks in the business district were inundated. Including the railroad 

yards, a total of 1.7 square miles was flooded.

The only Weather Bureau station in the Cherry Creek Basin at 

that time was at Denver, and its records showed that although a 

violent rainstorm occurred, lasting 2 hours, during which 2.08 inches

* Op. cit., p. 14.

" Report of Cherry Creek Flood Commission, Denver, 1913.
64 FLOODS IN COLORADO

of precipitation was recorded, the rise in the creek due to it had passed 

before the main flood reached Denver. From statements of residents 

throughout the basin it appears that the heaviest precipitation 

occurred in the lower half of the basin, extending from Franktown to 

a point about 5 miles north of Denver, and that the rain was particularly heavy below Parker. In this section the rain was so intermingled 

with hail and came down so fast that it was said to be difficult to see 

a hundred yards. The precipitation above Franktown was slight and, 

according to J. E. Field (see p. 62), did not extend to Castlewood 

Dam. The storm apparently traveled in a northwesterly direction 

and covered the entire basin, although with varying degrees of intensity. At Franktown the rain was heaviest about 2:30 p. m., continuing 

steadily for several hours. Between Franktown and Parker the storm 

was at its maximum between 3 and 4 p. m., and below Parker the 

maximum occurred from 4 to 4:20 p. m. The rain caused every dry 

gulch to run bank full, and as the storm apparently traveled downstream at about the same rate as the water in Cherry Creek, the 

cumulative effect was nearly the maximum for a storm of that intensity. The banks of Cherry Creek, being low, were flooded in numerous 

places.

The Cherry Creek Flood Commission estimated that the flood 

originated in the run-off from an area of less than 200 square miles, 

and that the greater part came from an area not exceeding 100 square 

miles. Two points were selected by the Commission for slope-area 

measurements of the peak flow, based on the cross section to the highwater mark and the slope of the creek bed, using 0.030 as the value for 

n in Kutter's formula. One was at the Montgomery Bridge above 

Parker, where the discharge was found to be 14,500 second-feet. 

The other was below the mouth of Goldsmith Gulch, about a mile 

upstream from the city limits, where a discharge of about 25,000 

second-feet was indicated. In view of the results obtained in Denver, 

as described below, it is believed that the figure for Goldsmith Gulch 

is too high, even allowing for the flattening effect of storage between 

the two places, and for the longer peak in Denver.

In Denver, Cherry Creek started to rise shortly after 8 p. m., and 

reached its maximum stage at 10 p. in., when it was 11 feet deep at the 

Bannock Street Bridge. Soon afterward it began to fall and by midnight had fallen 8 feet. At 8 o'clock the next morning it had fallen 

another foot, to a depth of 2 feet in the channel, and continued to 

recede slowly.

The Flood Commission made no estimate of the peak flow in Denver. W. B. Freeman, consulting engineer, formerly a member of the 

Geological Survey, made a float determination of the velocity in the 

main channel about midnight, when the stage was 5 feet lower than the
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 65

crest of the flood, and from this and the cross-sectional area at the 

peak, including the overflow, estimated the peak discharge as 11,000 

second-feet. He further estimated the total discharge for the 12-hour 

period 8 p. m. July 14 to 8 a. m. July 15 as 4,000 acre-feet. C. W. 

Comstock,32 State engineer, in an account of this flood in Denver, 

states that the peak discharge at the gaging station on the South 

Platte River a short distance below the mouth of Cherry Creek was 

12,000 second-feet, of which he estimated that 10,000 second-feet 

came from Cherry Creek. His estimate of the total discharge was 

3,800 acre-feet,

The severe overflow was due to the fact that the channel had a 

capacity of only 6,000 second-feet. After the flood the capacity was 

increased to 10,000 second-feet.

The flood of July 28, 1922, caused by heavy rainfall over the upper 

part of the basin, was a major flood for the upper part but not for 

the lower, as channel and valley storage so reduced its peak flow that 

it did not overflow the channel of the creek in Denver, although 

reaching the top of the retaining walls. It did, however, increase, 

the flow of the South Platte River below the mouth of the creek to 

such an extent that the South Platte River flooded several blocks at 

Globeville, in the lower part of Denver. A few days after the flood 

the Geological Survey and the State engineer's office made a joint 

investigation, the results of which have been published. 33 The heavy 

rainfall covered an area extending 3 miles north of Parker, 1 mile 

south of Franktown, to the Douglas County line on the east, and 4 

miles west of the creek.

The heaviest rainfall was in the basin of Bayou Gulch. At a point 

3 miles above the mouth of Bayou Gulch in sec. 30, T. 7 S., R. 65 W., 

the storm began about 2 p. m. and lasted for 2 hours. The total 

rainfall was about 3% inches as measured in an iron wheelbarrow with 

nearly vertical sides. The precipitation was so intense that the water 

stood 2 feet deep in the road. The resulting flood at Bayou Gulch 

was the highest in nearly 50 years. At a point 1 mile above the mouth 

of the gulch the heavy rain lasted 45 minutes and the flood crest was 

reached about 3:45 p. m., remaining near that stage for one hour. 

Heavy rain at the mouth of the gulch is reported to have lasted one 

hour. Hallway between Bayou Gulch and Parker, in sec. 3, T. 7 S., 

R. 66 W., the rain lasted from 2 to 4 p. m., and amounted to 2 inches 

as measured in a washtub in the yard. The rise in Cherry Creek came 

about 3 p. m. A Weather Bureau station 4 miles east of Parker 

recorded 1.01 inches for the 24-hour period, but at Castle Rock 6

« Comstock, C. W., The Cherry Creek flood, Denver, Colo.: Eng. News, vol. 68, pp. 302-305, Aug. 15, 

1912.

33 Follansbee, Robert, and Hodges, P. V., Some floods in the Eocky Mountain region: U. S. Geol. 

Survey Water-Supply Paper 520, pp. 122-123,1925.
66 FLOODS IN COLORADO

miles west of Franktown the Weather Bureau record showed only 

0.25 inches.

A slope-area measurement of-Bayou Gulch was made at a favorable 

point 1 mile above the mouth in sec. 23, T. 7 S., R. 66 W., and a peak 

discharge of 8,670 second-feet obtained. This represents 456 secondfeet per square mile from an area of 19 square miles. An attempt 

was made to make a slope-area measurement of Cherry Creek in sec. 

4, T. 6 S., R. 66 W., at the lower end of the area of heavy precipitation, but conditions were so unfavorable that the computation of 

17,000 second-feet discharge cannot be considered more than an estimate. Above this point the drainage area affected by the storm was 

87 square miles, and the estimated unit runoff was 195 second-feet 

per square mile. ISiear this point the creek started to rise at 4 p. m. 

and was at maximum stage from 4:30 to 5 p. m. By 8 p. m. it had 

fallen 3 feet, and by the next morning it could be forded easily. From 

these data the total discharge was estimated at about 4,000 acre-feet.

At the point where Cherry Creek was measured, in sec. 4, T. 6 S., R. 

66 W., a local resident stated that the flood of July 14, 1912, reached 

practically the same stage as that reached in 1922. But in 1912 the 

storm was closer to Denver, and therefore caused a peak flow at Denver 

estimated at 11,000 second-feet, as contrasted with the peak flow of 

about 6,000 second-feet in 1922.

The flood of August 2-3, 1933, the largest of record on Cherry 

Creek, was caused by the failure of Castlewood Dam, about 35 miles 

upstream from Denver. The storm causing this failure was confined 

to the 175 square miles of drainage area in the upper part of the basin 

above the reservoir, at altitudes between 6,500 and 7,500 feet. Had 

it not been for the sudden release of about 2,500 acre-feet of water 

stored in the reservoir, the flood crest would soon have been reduced 

to a stage at which it would have caused little damage. No precipitation stations are maintained in Cherry Creek Basin above Castlewood Dam, but local residents measured the precipitation at several 

points in improvised rain gages. R. I. Meeker, consulting engineer 

of Denver, visited this area shortly after the storm and obtained the 

information presented in the following table.

Precipitation in Cherry Creek Basin, during night of Aug. 2-3, 1933

Location

Sec. 19. T. 9 S., R. 65 W._ ........

SEJ4 sec. 19, T. 9 S., R. 65 W-...

KW> 11 T Q S P fit; W

Sees. 1 and 2, T. 10 S., R. 66 W...

Sec. 4, T. 10 S., R. 66 W. .........

Precipitation 

(inches)

4 

3 

4

7 

9

Method of measurement

Bucket with vertical sides ...

 .-do..... ... . 

 .-do--. .

10-gallon milk can (measurement corrected for 

shape of can).

Time

6 p. m. to 3 a. m. 

9 to 10 p. m.; rain very heavy. 

6 p. m. to 1 a. m.; rain hardest 

from 9 to 10 p. m.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 67

Ivan E. Houk, an engineer in the Bureau of Reclamation, made an 

investigation of the failure of the dam. He found that the flood 

reached the reservoir about midnight, and within 45 minutes had 

raised the water level 11 feet, to a point 5 feet over the spillway and 1 

foot over the top of the dam itself. The overflow washed out a large 

part of the dam, and the reservoir level dropped 18 feet within a few 

minutes. On this basis, the average inflow, disregarding spillway 

discharge, was computed as 30,000 second-feet, and the discharge over 

the spillway and the dam itself just before failure was computed as 

5,000 second-feet.34 The inflow of about 35,000 second-feet represented 

a unit run-off of 210 second-feet per square mile from 167 square miles 

above the reservoir, or 350 second-feet from the 100 square miles 

chiefly affected by the storm. Assuming that the reservoir level 

dropped 18 feet in 15 ninutes, the computed rate of discharge at the 

dam was 126,000 second-feet during that period.35

With no inflow below the dam, the channel and valley storage 

reduced the peak discharge to 34,000 second-feet at Ken wood dam 

site, about 23 miles downstream, as shown by slope-area determinations made by the Office of the State Engineer. Between the Kenwood dam site and the mouth in Denver, a distance of about 12 miles, 

the peak was further reduced to 15,000 second-feet, as determined by 

the increased discharge of South Platte River at the gaging station 

just below the mouth of Cherry Creek. At this point the flood was of 

short duration, its peak lasting only a few minutes. The sudden 

release of the stored water above Castlewood Dam resulted in a veritable wall of water rushing down the valley of Cherry Creek, flooding 

the bottoms to an extent greater than during any other flood of which 

definite information is available. By the time the flood reached 

Denver, the advancing front had a height of about 8 feet. As the 

peak which reached Denver at 8 a. m. August 3 originated at Castlewood Dam about 12:30 a. m., it traversed the intervening 35 miles at 

a rate of 4.6 miles per hour. Although this flood had a discharge considerably greater than the flood of 1912, the stage at the Denver 

tramway car house was only about 7 inches higher than in 1912, according to the Corps of Engineers, United States Army.38 This is 

due to the greater capacity of the channel. The total damage is estimated at $1,700,000, of which $960,000 represents damage above 

Kenwood Dam.

Subsequent to the flood of 1933 the city constructed a detention 

reservoir OP Cherry Creek 7 miles above Denver, designed to protect 

the city from a flood with a discharge of as much as 70,000 second-feet.

3* Western Construction News and Highways Builder, San Francisco, Sept. 1933.

" Idem.

» Cherry Creek and tributaries: 76th Cong., 1st sess., H. Doc. 426, p. 18, 1939.
68 FLOODS IN COLORADO

KIOWA AND BIJOU CREEKS

Below Cherry Creek part of the drainage basin of the South Platte 

River lying east and south of the river is made up of rolling high plains 

on which the normal rainfall is not sufficient to maintain perennial 

streams. As the so-called cloudburst zone extends roughly 50 miles 

east of the mountains, flood run-off from violent storms has formed 

numerous waterways extending from the southern boundary of the 

South Platte Basin to the main South Platte River. The southern 

boundary is the plateau forming the divide between the South Platte 

and Arkansas Rivers. The altitude of this plateau decreases from 

7,500 feet at the head of Kiowa Creek to 5,000 feet where it becomes 

the divide between the South Platte and Republican Rivers. Farther 

east the South Platte River Basin narrows rapidly, and the Republican River drainage approaches within a few miles of South Platte 

River with no pronounced divide. The streams in the area have a 

fall decreasing from 35 feet per mile in their upper courses to 15 feet 

per mile in their lower courses.

The principal streams are Boxelder, Kiowa, Bijou, and Badger 

Creeks. These streams are subject to not infrequent cloudburst 

floods, the principal damage from which is to bridges, both highway 

and railroad. One of the earliest recorded floods on these streams 

was that on Kiowa Creek on May 21, 1878. The following account 

by A. B. Sanford is quoted from the Colorado Magazine of July 1937:

Among the unsolved mysteries in Colorado's history is the disappearance of a 

standard gage Kansas Pacific [now Union Pacific] locomotive in the quicksands 

of Kiowa Creek * * * on the night of May 21, 1878. A sudden flood had 

destroyed the wooden bridge that crossed the usually dry channel a short time before a freight train was due, and owing to the bridge being the low point of a sag 

in the roadbed and [to] the high speed of the train, the engine and most of the cars 

plunged into a swirling torrent of water before the engineer realized the situation. 

The engineer, fireman, and brakeman went down with the engine, which was 

completely buried.

A few days later * * * search was begun for the missing engine. Long 

metallic rods were driven in the sands. In some places pits were started but soon 

abandoned because of the heavy underflow, and the location of the * * * locomotive appeared hopeless when it was estimated the bedrock formation was probably 50 feet below the channel of the Kiowa. [It never was recovered.]

The severest floods known on Kiowa and Bijou Creeks were those 

of May 30-31, 1935, which caused the loss of 9 lives, the destruction 

of all bridges over these streams, and much damage due to overflow. 

Earlier in the month there had been two periods of general rainfall, 

May 12-22 and 26-29, during which 2 inches or more of rain fell. As 

a result the soil was in condition to cause a high percentage of run-off 

from the storm of May 30. During this storm there were two periods 

of intense rainfall causing two distinct floods on Kiowa and Bijou 

Creeks, the second being much the greater.
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 69

The Denver Post of May 31, 1935, quoted an account of the second 

flood on Kiowa Creek, as given by the telephone operator at Elbert:

The water came with a roar * * * Within a few minutes the water had 

risen to 8 feet around the exchange [a quarter of a mile from the creek]. Down in 

the lowlands it was 15 feet high * * * House after house was ripped from 

its foundations and swept down the creek. Thirty-seven houses and stores were 

destroyed more than half the town. [Later reports reduced this number to 15.]

At Kiowa 15 houses were swept away and some stores wrecked. 

Below Kiowa further destruction occurred, as reported by the Post:

About three miles above Bennett the waters tore through the ranch house of 

the Ramseys. Sorenson, the hired man, described what occurred. "We were 

all inside. The wall of water came down it must have been 10 feet high. The 

house was ripped right from its foundation and the three of us hurled into the 

stream. About a mile downstream I managed to catch hold of a branch of a 

tree and pulled myself to safety." [Two others were drowned].

Bennett is some distance from the creek, so no damage occurred in 

the town itself, but the Union Pacific Railroad bridge near Bennett 

was washed out, together with a long stretch of fill on each side. In 

the town of Wiggins water several feet deep was reported; families 

were, stranded on high points which became islands as the water rose. 

Near Wiggins, Kiowa Creek washed out 1,000 feet of the Burlington 

Railroad track.

Bijou Creek Basin contains no towns except Byers, and although 

the flood was more severe there than on Kiowa Creek, less damage 

appears to have been done. The Deer Trail Tribune of June 7, 

1935. stated:

The business part of Byers was flooded and basements filled with water. The 

White Hotel had over 2 feet of water in the ground floor. Closer to the river, 

north of the highway, the families waded out and found shelter * * * on 

higher ground. * * * The Union Pacific Bridge at * * * Byers, 5 

miles west of Deer Trail and 1 mile west of town [was] washed out with hundreds 

of feet of track and fill on both sides.

The same issue of the Tribune describes the approach of the flood 

on East Bijou Creek at a point 3 miles west of Deer Trail:

At about 7:30 Thursday evening [May 30] * * * looked up the creek 

and saw a wall of water that he declares was 10 or 15 feet high rushing toward 

them with a roar like thunder. * * * The men rushed to the house * * * 

but were only able to get a few clothes out when they were forced to fight their 

way through the rushing stream to high ground. * * * In a few minutes 

the house and all the outbuildings were swept downstream.

Near the mouth of the stream the flood destroyed the Burlington 

Railroad Bridge and more than half a mile of track. Conditions near 

the mouth of Kiowa Creek and Bijou Creek are described in the 

Denver Post, June 2, 1935:

It was only from this height [airplane] we could grasp the great breadth of the 

flood the vast territory over which waters spread, especially in the district
70 FLOODS IN COLORADO

about Fort Morgan, Brush, and Wiggins, where these raging torrents, the [South] 

Platte River, Kiowa, and Bijou Creeks, met and at one point formed a stream 

several miles wide.

The office of the State engineer investigated these floods and the 

storm causing them. The areas of heaviest precipitation contained 

no Weather Bureau stations, therefore it was necessary in determining 

the location and approximate amount of rainfall to obtain from local 

residents such information as could be furnished by those who had 

measured the rainfall in improvised rain gages. The following table 

summarizes the information.

Rainfall on Kiowa and Bijou Creeks, May SO, 19S5 

[Compiled from statements of local residents and from Weather Bureau records]

Location

Sec. 2, T. 8 S., E. 65 W_ .. __ . _

Sec. 33, T. 11 S., E. 64 W. ..--._._

Sec. 18, T, 11 S., E. 64 W. -.--._.

Sec. 12, P. US. E. 65 W.. -

Sec. 34, T. 10 S. E. 64 W-. .......

Sec. 27, T. 10 S. E. 64 W.'-_......

Sec. 22, T. 10 S. E. 64 W_ _.......

Sec. 19, T. 10 S. E. 64 W.i--.....

Sec. 9, T. 10 S., E 64 W.i .____._

At Elbert. in sec. 34, T. 9 S., 

B. 64 W.

Sec. 32, T. 8 S.. E. 64 W.. ........

Sec. 33, T. 10 S., E. 63 W. -.-.__-.

Sec. 35, T. 9 S., E. 63 W.L. .......

Sec. 27, T. 9 S., E. 63 W.. .....

Sec. 26, T. 3 S., E. 63 W_ .........

Sec. 26, T. 10 S., E. 62 W.........

Seo. 16, T. 8 S., E. 62 W_ _........

Sec. 24, T. 8 S., E. 62 W... .......

Sec. 23, T. 7 S., E. 62 W.».........

Sec. 23, T. 6 S., E. 61 W. 1 . __ ....

Sec. 9, T. 4 S., E. 61 W.. .........

Sec. 26, T. 10 S., E. 60 W.». ....

Sec. 4, T. 9S., E. 60 W----____--.

Sec. 9, T. 8 S., E. 60 W_. ... ._.

Sec. 11, T. 7S., E. 60 W. .........

Sec. 13, T. 5 S., E. 60 W.i.........

Sec. 12, T. 7 S., E. 59 W.i.........

Eainfall 

(inches)

Tr.

8

8

4

24

20

18

15+

8)4

24

4-6

7

6-8

Tr.

P)

12

q

W

.11

1J4

W

4

9

6

Method of measurement

Oil can ...... __ . ___ .

.....do.......... ..........

Standard rain gage, overflowed; 12 inches caught 

ID bucket after overflow.

Can-..-.----.-. _ ..........

.... do.....................

inches high.

ing.

reau at Byers.

Time

29-30; hard rain noon to 5 

p. m. May 30.

May 30.

noon.

1:30 to 4:30 p. m.

4:30 to 7 a. m.; 1 to 5 p. m.

noon, and from 5 to 6 p. m.

5:30 to 10 a. m. 3 to 6 p. m.

3 to 6:30 p. m.

of May 31.

' Data obtained by Geological Survey.

' 2 inches in one hour reported; probably not the total rainfall.

The following table summarizes the results of the slope-area 

measurements:
MAJOR FLOODS SOUTH PLATTE RIVER 71

Peak discharge of Kiowa and Bijou Creeks, May 80-31, 1985 

[Data from 28th Biennial report of the State Engineer of Colorado, p. 41,1939J

Location

Kiowa Creek: 

Elbert, in sec. 34, T. 9 S., R. 64 W.. .................. ........

Sec. 21, T. b S., R. 63 W... ......................... .......

Bennett, in sec. 26, T. 3 S., R. 63 W..... -...........-.--....

West Bijou Creek: 

Sec. 13, T. 8 S., R. 62 W....... ............................ 

Sec. 36, T. 6S., R. 62 W.. . - .......................

Middle Bijou Creek: 

Sec. 26, T. 7S., R. 60 W.. ...... ..... ...................

Sec. 28, T. 4 S., R. 60 W. .....................................

East Bijou Creek: 

Deer Trail, in sec. 13, T. 5 S., R. 60 W.... .......... _ .......

Drainage 

area affected 

by storm 

(square 

miles)

60 

190 

266

118 

187

151 

230

294

Peak discharge 

(second-feet)

Total

i 43, 500 

2110,000 

175,300

8 34, 250 

244,400

2 71. 270 

» 143, 640

125,000

Per square 

mile

725 

579 

283

290 

237

472 

625

85

1 Based on one cross section and slope of stream bed.

2 Based on two cross sections and high-water slope. 

5 Based on one cross section and high-water slope.

In addition to the results given in the preceding table two more 

discharge measurements were made. A slope-area measurement on 

West Bijou Creek at Byers was taken above the railroad embankment which, before its failure, ponded the flood. As the slope used 

in this measurement was that of the stream bed subsequent to the 

flood, it did not show the effect of the pondage, and the results obtained are therefore believed to be too high. A slope-area measurement on Bijou Creek in sec. 32, T. 4 N., R. 59 W., a few miles below 

Wiggins, gave a discharge of about 280,000 second-feet. J. E. Field, 

consulting engineer, made an investigation of the flood at Wiggins, 

from which he concluded that a very considerable body of water had 

been held back by the Burlington Railroad embankment. When 

this embankment failed it released the ponded water within a comparatively short time and greatly increased the flow in the river 

below. The high-water marks used to determine the peak flow were 

those caused by the failure of the embankment, and therefore did not 

represent the peak flow.

Describing the results of the investigations on Kiowa Creek and 

Bijou Creek, the State Engineer 37 says:

While some of the results, particularly those of the Bijou Creek discharges appear to be incredible and entirely beyond anything which has ever occurred in 

Colorado or adjacent areas, they are submitted for whatever value they may 

have.

In view of the uncertainties as to the accuracy of these results they 

should be used with caution.

« Colorado State Engineer, 28th Bienn. Rept., p. 43,1939.
72 FLOODS IN COLORADO

REPUBLICAN RIVER

The headwaters of the Kepublican Kiver drain an area in eastcentral Colorado, roughly oval in shape, extending from a point 

south of Fort Morgan eastward to the Colorado-Nebraska State line. 

This area is a part of the Great Plains province and has its characteristic topography. The streams have an average fall of about 12 feet 

per mile.

The greatest flood of record in this area occurred May 30-31, 1935. 

The severe storm on May 30 took the form of a series of cloudbursts, 

which in the Kepublican Kiver Basin in Colorado centered on the area 

between the Republican and Arikaree Rivers and extended from a 

line drawn from Cope to Seibert eastward to the State line. An investigation was made soon after the flood, and from the published 

report 38 the following is abstracted:

No Weather Bureau stations were within the area of heavy precipitation, 

hence it was necessary to obtain information concerning it from local residents, 

many of whom measured the rainfall in improvised rain gages. These statements showed rainfall ranging from 6 to 18 inches during the night of May 30- 

31, and one resident reported that a 24-inch stock tank overflowed during the 

night.

The main flood on the Arikaree River originated some distance west 

of Cope, where a heavy rain started at 6 p. m., May 30. The river 

began to rise shortly afterward, and by 3 a. m., May 31, it reached 

its peak stage of about 6 feet, with a corresponding discharge of 25,000 

second-feet. As the flood progressed it reached a peak discharge of 

54,000 second-feet and peak stage of 9 feet at a point 10 miles north 

of Idalia.

On the South Fork Republican River the flood started near Seibert, 

where four small creeks unite to form the South Fork, and increased 

rapidly to a peak discharge of 103,000 second-feet near Newton and 

150,000 second-feet at the State line. The greatest discharge per 

square mile occurred near Newton. The drainage area west of the 

area of heaviest precipitation contributed about 20,000 second-feet 

to the peak, leaving 83,000 second-feet contributed by the 669 square 

miles directly affected by the cloudbursts, or 124 second-feet per 

square mile.

ARKANSAS RIVER

The Arkansas River is formed by the East Fork and Tennessee 

Fork, which unite near Malta. From their junction to Parkclale, the 

Arkansas River flows through a succession of narrow valleys divided 

by short canyons. At Parkdale the river plunges into the Royal 

Gorge, emerging from it just above Canon City, and below that point

3 8 Follansbee, Robert, and Spiegel, J. B., Flood on Republican and Kansas Rivers, May and June 1935: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Taper 796-B, pp. 21-!i2, 1937.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 73

flows through a valley increasing in width as far as Pueblo. Beyond 

Pueblo, the river flows across the plains to the State line and thence 

into Kansas. Between Canon City and Pueblo the fall of the river 

decreases from 25 feet to 10 feet per mile, and below Pueblo the average 

fall is about 8 feet per mile.

Above the Royal Gorge the Arkansas River is not subject to heavy 

floods. A few of its upper tributaries are subject to cloudburst floods, 

but the volume of these floods is too small to affect seriously the 

Arkansas River itself.

Gaging stations on Arkansas River between Canon City and Colorado-Kansas Stateline

Station 1

Holly.... . .........

Drainage 

area (square 

miles)

3,090

4,730

9,130

11,400

12, 200

19, 800

*>c flAft

Period of record

May 1888 to date.

May 1885 to September 1886; June to September 1887; May

to August 1989; September 1894 to date. 

September 1897 to October 1903; July 1909 to November

1912; January 1914 to date. 

May 1897 to April 1900; April 1901 to October 1903.

January to December 1901 ; April to October 1903; August 

to November 1908; April 1912 to date. 

Mav 1913 to date.

October 1907 to date.

1 Stations maintained at several other points for short periods.

The earliest flood known in this area occured in 1826, long before 

permanent settlement in the Arkansas Valley. Knowledge of this 

flood is available only at fourth hand but is believed to be reliable. 

C. W. Beach, State division irrigation engineer, obtained the information from J. R. Gordon, of Pueblo. Mr. Gordon in turn had obtained it from a Mr. Traber who, as an elderly man, visited Pueblo hi 

1873. In his younger days Mr. Traber was an employee of the 

Hudson's Bay Company, and in 1826, with associates, spent considerable time in the vicinity of the old site of Fort Lyon. During 

that year a flood occurred on the Arkansas River that covered the 

bottom lands near the present town of Las Animas to a depth of about 

15 feet. In 1873 Mr. Gordon visited Las Animas in company with 

Mr. Taber, who identified the site of his original camp. The fact 

that a great flood occurred on the Arkansas in 1826 was also verified, 

according to Mr. Beach, by grandchildren of Mrs. Amy Prowers, 

wife of John W. Prowers for whom Prowers County is named. An 

outstanding flood apparently occurred also on the Republican and 

Kansas Rivers in 1826,39 when excessive rains throughout the middle 

Mississippi and Missouri River Basins, caused high stages on 

rivers during April and May. 40

31 Follansbee, Robert, and Spiegel, J. B., op. cit., p. 51.

< Kansas River, Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas: 73d Cong., 2d sess., H. Doc. 195, p. 39, 1934.
74 FLOODS IN COLORADO

1859?

The next known flood in this area was that of the late 1850's, tentatively dated as 1859, which affected chiefly the Arkansas River below 

the mouth of the Purgatoire River. A. W. McHendrie, former district judge at Trinidad, obtained information from L. M. Kreeger, 

for many years a peace officer at Trinidad, who in his earlier years 

had been a guard and hunter with wagon trains following the Santa 

Fe Trail. In 1911 both Mr. McHendrie and Mr. Kreeger were at 

Lamar, and the latter told of camping in the late fifties just north of a 

hill beyond the south end of the present bridge at Lamar. It was 

raining when the wagon train camped at that point. The Arkansas 

River continued to rise and in 7 days it had reached the base of the 

hill and was 2 or 3 miles wide. Mr. Kreeger took Mr. McHendrie 

to the site of his old camp, which was easily identified. By sighting 

across the valley from the base of the hill, Mr. McHendrie estimated 

that the water must have been about 15 feet deep at the present site 

of Lamar, The peak of the flood did not last very long a day or 

less but the entire valley was under water for several days. Mr. 

Kreeger stated that the wagon train continued its journey up the 

Arkansas River to the Purgatoire River, along which they found 

evidence of large cottonwood trees having been uprooted and washed 

away during the recent flood. The Arkansas River above the Purgatoire River was also in flood, but as no mention was made of trees 

along it having been uprooted it is believed that the flood there was 

not as severe as on the Purgatoire River. This belief is strengthened 

by the fact that the early settlers at Pueblo left no record of this flood, 

apparently considering it merely the usual spring rise. As the Santa 

Fe Trail left the Purgatoire River a few miles above its mouth, no 

information on flood conditions on the upper part of that river was 

obtained. However, the channel of the Purgatoire River at Trinidad 

at that time was so narrow that it was spanned by a footlog, so it is 

evident that this flood did not originate in the mountains above 

Trinidad but on the plains, probably in the canyon section.

1864

The first flood on the Arkansas River for which detailed information 

has been found occurred June 11, 1864, as a result of the general 

storm over eastern Colorado. The early settlers agree that this flood 

reached a point near Third and Santa Fe Avenues in Pueblo, and if, 

as seems probable, the street has been graded down since 1864, the 

flood of that year may have been nearly as high as the flood of 1921. 

During the flood of 1921 all the streams in the valley were very high 

and overflowed their banks for great distances.41

« Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., The Arkansas River flood of June 3-5,1921: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 487, p. 36,1922.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 75 

1867

A flood in May 1867 caused the removal of Fort Lyon to a place 

17 miles farther west. The rainfall record at Fort Lyon was as follows: 

May 24-26, 1.80 inches; May 29, 1.00 inch; May 30, 1.15 inches; a 

total of 3.95 inches, as compared with a normal rainfall of 2 inches 

for the entire month. This flood was probably caused chiefly by 

melting snow, as the Canon City Record of June 2, 1894, quotes 

historian B. F. Rockafellow, as saying that the melting of the snow 

at the time of the flood of 1867 caused "the streams [in the vicinity 

of Canon City] to become swollen into rushing torrents." The Bent 

County Democrat, June 15, 1921, quotes John W. Powers, county 

clerk, as follows:

I have heard my mother tell of the great flood of 1867, which must have surpassed the one of this month. At the time to which she referred both the Arkansas 

and the Purgatoire were at flood stage simultaneously, with the result that the 

Arkansas River in the section where Lamar now stands was a solid body of water 

from the sand hills on the south side to the first upland on the north side of the 

river.

1869

During a flood in June 1869 the river is said to have contained an 

immense amount of water.

1875

The next flood of record on the Arkansas River is that of September 

16, 1875, which was caused primarily by high water in the Purgatoire 

River and therefore affected the Arkansas River chiefly below the 

Purgatoire. The Las Animas Leader, September 18, 1875, reported:

At Fort Lyon [4 miles below the mouth of the Purgatoire] the water was 4 feet 

higher than ever known before. The bottom land between the bridge and the 

post trader's [a distance of three-fourths of a mile] was a swift, raging flood.

The upper river was also in flood as far north as Pueblo, but as the 

Pueblo press gave little space to it the flood at that point was evidently 

not serious.

1884

Rain and run-off from melting of the heavy snow cover in June 1884 

caused a flood on the Arkansas River between the Grand Canyon, 

just above the Royal Gorge, and Pueblo. The Canon City Record, 

June 28, 1884, stated that the water was 2 feet deep on the railroad 

tracks in the Grand Canyon. The Pueblo Chieftain, July 5, 1884, 

stated:

The Arkansas River is booming. It rose several inches more yesterday, and 

during the morning a sudden run of driftwood appeared. A great quantity of it 

went down within a few hours and then the run stopped altogether. Immense 

cottonwood logs * * * threatened destruction to everything in their way. 

* * * The river is doing more damage to the Rio Grande road than ever
76 FLOODS IN COLORADO

before. The Grand Canyon is wholly impassable. Between Pueblo and Canon 

City [the railroad tracks] are flooded for miles at a stretch by from 6 to 18 inches 

of water. The county bridges across the Arkansas at Parkdale, Texas, and: 

Howard have been washed out.

1886

A flood of - considerable magnitude on the lower Arkansas River, 

probably below the mouth of Purgatoire River, occurred July 20-25, 

1886. This flood did not extend to the upper river, as the Pueblo 

gaging station showed a maximum of only 3,080 second-feet on July 21. 

The rainfall was apparently heaviest in the vicinity of Las Animas 

and La Junta. At the former place the rainfall was 3.36 inches July 

24-25, and 4.66 inches for the month, or more than twice the normal. 

At Pueblo the rainfall for July was only 0.39 inch. The only available 

information regarding this flood relates to the section of river near 

La Junta, and appeared in the La Junta Tribune of July 22, 1886:

Wednesday morning the water in the Arkansas River was within 1 foot of the 

bottom of the sleepers of the wagon bridge. There were 5 wash-outs [on the railroad] between La Junta and a point 6 miles east.

After describing the storm, which was termed terrific, the Tribune 

continued:

By half past seven the streets and ravines were converted into small rivers. 

* * * In King Arroyo, east of town, the water came down in a wave 12 feet 

high. In Anderson Arroyo just west of town the water was at least 20 feet deep, 

running over the Santa Fe Co.'s bridge. * * * Johnson was sleeping in the 

house * * * 10 miles up Anderson Arroyo. About midnight he was 

awakened by the storm. He had been up but a few minutes when the house began 

to tremble, a wave about 8 feet high struck the south end, forcing in the window 

and almost in an instant the house went to pieces and was floating down this newly 

formed river.

1889

Rains on August 9, 1889, were followed by a flood that caused overflow from Grape Creek at least as far east as Pueblo. These rains 

must have been of the cloudburst type in the Arkansas Valley, as at 

none of the rainfall stations was the recorded precipitation heavy 

except at Pueblo, where 1.02 inches of rain in 1 hour on August 9 was 

recorded. This intense rainfall, with a temperature of 98° before the 

storm, indicates a cloudburst. From tha account of the Grape Creek 

flood (see p. 84) it appears that the flood on the Arkansas River came 

primarily from that source. It was evidently augmented by rain at 

other points. The Denver Republican states that rain began falling 

about 5:30 p. m. on August 9, and flooded the region around Pueblo r 

and that a "terrible and disastrous rainstorm visited Florence in the 

evening and lasted 2 hours. The Denver & Rio Grande is having lots.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 77

of trouble caused by the cloudburst of Friday night. The Hardscrabble bridge washed out."

A Pueblo dispatch dated August 10 is quoted in the Canon City 

Record of August 17, 1889:

At 1:30 this morning [Aug. 10] the water began to flood the flats west of Victoria 

Avenue, the water rushing through at the west end of the Santa Fe bridge. At 

3 o'clock the water went over the Victoria Avenue grade and soon every basement 

on the west side of Union Avenue was flooded. At 4 o'clock the water went over 

Union Avenue grade and soon the lowlands on the east side of the street were 

covered with water several feet deep. The water extended from the river to the 

viaduct, a distance of 4 blocks, and most of the way the water was 1% to 2 feet 

deep. At 7 o'clock the river had fallen 3 inches.

After this flood the city council ordered all obstructions in the 

channel removed and appropriated $3,000 to repair and streugthen the 

levee.

Discharge records for this flood are available from the gaging stations at Canon City, in the canyon above Pueblo, and at La Junta, 

but these records show the only mean daily discharge, which at each 

station is undoubtedly much less than the peak discharge.

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Arkansas River, August 8-14, 1889

8

324

370

9

2,620

3,700

110

10

478

2,050

55

August

11

324

880

12

324

1,080

13 14

550

900

1893

In 1893, one of the driest years of record at Pueblo, a flood occurred 

on July 26, which reached a stage 10 feet lower than that of the flood 

of 1921. The river rose 8 feet in 2 hours at Pueblo.42 No gagingstation record of the discharge is available, but from the rating curve 

established for the flood of 1921, with an allowance for channel clearance made after the flood of 1893, it appears that the peak discharge 

was between 20,000 and 25,000 second-feet.

1894

The storm of May 29-31, 1894, also caused a severe flood. Therecord of rainfall in the Arkansas River Basin during the storm isgiven in the accompanying table.

42 Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., op. cit., p. 38. 

755376 47 6
78 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Precipitation, in inches, in Arkansas River Basin, May 29-31, 1894

Altitude

(feet)

5,329

4,685

4,177

3,899

3,592

29

0.75

M

30

4.31

1.38

.07

ay

31

1.64

3.50

1.09

1 3.00

Total

5.06

3.02

3.50

1.16

3.00

i Record for several days.

The local newspapers on the evening of May 30; 1894, reported that 

at Salida rain had fallen continuously for 36 hours and was continuing 

and that for duration and volume the storm exceeded anything in the 

memory of the oldest inhabitant. At the same time, Florence reported 

that rain had fallen there for the preceding 24 hours and that the 

amount was estimated at 3 to 4 inches. The precipitation above 

Canon City had little influence on the ensuing flood, as the discharge 

at Canon City was not greatly in excess of that during years of heavy 

mountain snowfall. Below Canon City, however, very considerable 

damage was caused. A dispatch from Pueblo, dated May 30, is 

quoted in the Rocky Mountain News of May 31, 1894:

In consequence of an all-day downpour of rain such as has not occurred in this 

valley in 20 years, the Arkansas River tonight came up and broke the levees in 

four places on the north side and two on the south side. Everything is a sea of 

water from Union Avenue viaduct to the post office. All business cellars are 

filled in that territory, and the water is over the floors from 6 inches to 2 feet. This 

is a worse flood than any that has occurred since the town became a city. The 

water flows with a strong current through the streets, and everything is confusion. 

The flood covers the city from Union Avenue on the south side to Fourth Avenue 

on the north side, an area of three-quarters of a mile.

The issue of the News on June 1, 1894, stated that on Second Street 

between Santa Fe Avenue and Main Street the water was 4 feet deep 

over the floors of the buildings. Five lives were lost in Pueblo, and 

damage amounting to nearly $2,000,000 was done to property. At its 

highest stage the water was 3 feet deep in the Denver & Rio Grande 

Railroad freight yard and stayed at that stage from 2 to 8:30 a. m., 

May 31. It receded slowly and by 6 a. m., June 1, had fallen only 4% 

feet. The highest stage was about 7 feet less than the flood of 1921. 43

In the Arkansas Valley above Pueblo this flood reached a higher 

stage than the flood of 1921. Below Pueblo, however, it was considerably lower. At Las Animas, according to the Bent County 

Democrat of June 8, 1921, the flood of 1894 reached First Street, 

whereas the flood of 1921 was 4 feet deep at that point.

« Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., The Arkansas River flood of June|3-5,1921: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 487, p. 39, 1922.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 79

The city engineer of Pueblo subsequently made a slope-area determination of the peak discharge and found it to be 39,100 second-feet. 

Subsequently the channel capacity through Pueblo was increased to 

40,000 second-feet.

1904

The Purgatoire Kiver flood of September 29-30, 1904, caused a 

flood in the lower part of the Arkansas Valley in Colorado. No 

gaging station was in operation at that time at the mouth of the 

Purgatoire River, and it is therefore impossible to determine the 

volume of the flood entering the Arkansas River. It is believed, 

however, to have been at least as great as the peak discharge of 44,300 

second-feet at Trinidad. The recorded rainfall in the Arkansas River 

Basin below the Purgatoire River is given in the table following.

Precipitation, in inches, in Arkansas River Basin, Sept. 27-30, 1904

Station

Holly......-. ..........................

Cheyenne Wells.-.---------.---.--- ...

Vilas................. ....................

Altitude 

(feet)

3,899

3,592 

3,380 

4,279 

4,155

September

27

0.11

1.23

28

0.18 

.28 

1.00 

.80

29

1.20

.41 

.52 

.93 

1.35

30

0.45 

.26 

.02 

1.10

Total

1.65 

.96 

.82 

4.26 

2.15

This precipitation undoubtedly increased the flood volume in the 

Arkansas River. At the Colorado and Kansas diversion dam, 3 miles 

west of Prowers, the peak discharge was computed as about 70,000 

second-feet. Further information on this flood is summarized from 

earlier reports, as follows: **

The lower bottom lands were entirely inundated from the mouth of the Purgatoire to the State line, and as a flood in September was unexpected the railroad 

company and farmers were unprepared for it, with the result that damages were 

much greater than they would otherwise have been. From Fort Lyon to Holly 

the water covered all the lower bottom lands, and from Caddoa to Lamar, where 

the bottom is narrower than above or below, the waters reached from bluff to 

bluff, a distance varying from three-quarters of a mile to a mile in width. At the 

Colorado and Kansas canal dam, 3 miles west of Prowers, the gatekeeper was 

compelled to swim his horses out, so rapid was the rise of the water. At Lamar the 

water was within 1 foot of flooding the town.

1908

The flood of October 19-20, 1908, was caused by heavy rains, chiefly 

during the night of October 18, which covered the part of the 

Arkansas River Basin in Colorado east of a line running just west of 

La Junta, except the area south of a line from the Purgatoire River

« Meeker, R. I., Purgatoire River flood, in Murply, E. C., and others, Destructive floods in the United 

States in 1904: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 147, pp. 165-167, 1905.
80 FLOODS IN COLORADO

above Smith Canyon to the southeast corner of the State. The 

Geological Survey made an investigation of this flood soon after it 

occurred, and from -its published report 45 the following information 

is abstracted.

Rainfall, in inches, in Arkansas River Basin, Oct. 18-19, 1908

Station'

Vilas-- -. - -_-- ------ --. .---

Holly.... -- -_ --- - ------ --.---

Altitude 

(feet)

5, 400 

5,360 

4,177 

3, 899

4,000

3,592

4,279 

4,155 

3,935 

3,380

October

18

0.90 

.62 

1.76 

.64

.37

.70

19

1.36 

1.41

1.42

5.95

3.87 

4.53 

1.33 

1.40 

Tr.

Total

2.26 

2.03 

1.76 

2.06 

5.95 

3.87 

4.53 

1.70 

1.40 

.70

Rain gages were also in operation at various points along the canal, 

which is part of the Amity canal system, north of the Arkansas River. 

These gages recorded precipitation of 6.25 inches 40 miles northwest 

of Holly, 6 inches near Prowers, and 6.34 inches a few miles north of 

Lamar. Most of the rain fell within 8 hours during the night of 

October 18-19, 1908.

This flood of 1908 appears to have had two distinct parts. The 

first, October 19, due chiefly to the very heavy rains on the north 

side of the river. Throughout the area affected the ground was very 

hard and dry and had been grazed so closely that practically no 

vegetation remained. These conditions were conducive to an extremely high percentage of run-off, and it is believed that as much 

as two-thirds of the 6-inch rainfall reported appeared immediately in 

the streams. On the north side of the river the water was reported 

to have "flowed away in a perfect sheet, overspreading the whole 

country and running into the river chiefly below the Amity Dam at 

Prowers, causing a very rapid rise." 46 This run-off reached Holly 

sometime before midnight, October 19, and reached a stage of 9.8 

feet on the gage at Holly. The flood was prolonged by the arrival 

of flood waters from Two Butte Creek and smaller tributaries from 

the south, and had only receded half a foot the morning of October 20 

when the second flood arrived.

The second part of the flood was caused chiefly by floodwaters 

from the Purgatoire River. It reached a peak stage of 11 feet at Holly 

at noon, October 20. At 7 a. m. October 21 it had receded to 4.6 

feet, and at 7 a. m. October 22 it was 3.0 feet.

«s Freeman, W. B., Flood in the Arkansas Valley, Colorado, October 1908: U. S. Geol. Survey, WaterSupply Paper 247, pp. 33-40,1910. 

« Freeman, W. B., op. cit., p. 35.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 81

All the bottom lands were flooded, railroad embankments were 

overflowed and washed out in many places, and rail traffic was delayed 

for about 6 days. All highway bridges on the Arkansas .River from, 

the mouth of the Purgatoire River to the State line, except those at 

Granada and Holly, were washed away. Several people were drowned, 

many farmhouses were flooded, a number of towns inundated, and 

manv thousand sheep were lost. Much damage was also done to 

canal systems. The estimated property loss was about $250,000.

The peak discharge at Amity Dam, half a mile north of Prowers, 

was estimated at more than 100,000 second-feet, and at Holly a 

slope-area measurement made by the Amity Land Co. gave a discharge of 136,000 second-feet. This discharge at Holly in 1908 was 

slightly greater than during the flood of 1921. The gaging statior 

at Holly was the only one in operation during 1908.

Mean daily discharge of Arkansas River at Holly, Oct. 18-24, 1908

Second-feet Second-feet

Oct. 18______----- 5

19-_____-----_--_ 50,000

20_______-_ 125,000

Oct. 22________________ 10,000

23_______________- 7,500

24____________ 4,000

21_______________ 20,000

1921

Above the mouth of the Purgatoire River no damaging flood occurred after 1894 until 1921, when the general storm that covered the 

State June 2-5 was concentrated in a series of cloudbursts between 

Canon City and Pueblo. These covered two separate areas. The 

larger area, roughly elliptical, extended from the northern boundary 

 of Pueblo County to the top of the Wet Mountains near Beulah, a 

distance of 30 miles, and from a point a short distance above the 

mouth of Rush Creek nearly to Pueblo, a distance of 15 miles. The 

smaller area covered the south slope of the Pikes Peak uplift, which 

forms the northern part of the mountain valley, and extended from a 

point above Skaguay Reservoir to a point 3 or 4 miles south of the 

river, a distance of 25 miles, and from Oil Creek to Beaver Creek, 

a distance of 11 miles. The two areas together comprise 550 square 

miles.

The progress of the storm down the valley caused the resulting 

floods on many of the tributary streams to reach Pueblo at nearly the 

same time, bringing about there the greatest flood of record. The 

Geological Survey made an investigation of this flood, and published 

a detailed report.47 The peak discharge at Pueblo, as determined by 

slope-area measurement, was found to be 103,000 second-feet, and the

*7 Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., The Arkansas River flood of June 3-5,1921: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 487, 44 pp., 1922.
82 FLOODS IN COLORADO

total discharge of the main flood at that point, less than 90,000 acrefeet. Two views of the damage caused by this flood are shown on 

plate 2.

After the flood of 1921 the State Legislature enacted the Conservancy District law, which enabled various interests in the Arkansas 

Valley to organize the Pueblo Conservancy District. This district 

constructed a detention reservoir 10 miles above Pueblo, which was 

designed to reduce a discharge of 175,000 second-feet of normal duration to a discharge of 100,000 second-feet. Channel changes in 

Pueblo were designed to carry, without overflow, a flood discharge of 

125,000 second-feet and thus to provide for a flood flow of 25,000 

second-feet originating below the reservoir.

As floods on the Purgatoire River are necessarily a source of floods 

on the Arkansas River below the mouth of that tributary, the flood of 

1921 was not so greatly in excess of previous floods on that section of 

the river as the previous floods above the mouth of the Purgatoire 

River. In fact the peak discharge of the flood of 1908 on the Arkansas 

River at Holly was 136,000 second-feet, whereas the peak discharge 

in 1921 at Holly, when the Purgatoire River was not at flood stage, was 

only 120,000 second-feet.

The following table shows the daily discharge at gaging stations on 

the lower part of the Arkansas River in Colorado during June 1921.

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Arkansas River, June 1-19, 1921 

[Data from reports of State Engineer of Colorado]

June

1... . - - - - 

2... ............ .......... ... 

3 

4... .-. _- .. -

5.. ....................... _ ..............

6 

7 ...... . _ ...........

8 

9

10.. ............. ....... ................

11. ........................................

12................. .. ................. .....

13 . 

14 .- ... 

15............................... ...---.-.

16....-.- -..-. .-...... - 

17 . 

18 

19 

Canon 

City 

(drainage 

area 

3,090 

square 

miles)

3,130

3,060

3,130

3,430

3,500

3,500

3,500

3,130

2,850

3,280

3,730

4,420

4,580

4,340

4,900

4,980

4,500

4,020

3,800

Near 

Pueblo 

(drainage 

area 

4,730 

square 

miles)

2,380

5,300

20,700

134,600

19,200

10,800

6,650

5,480

5,080

5,140

5,950

5,840

6,470

5,910

6,350

5,950

5,480

5,280

4,400

La Junta 

(drainage 

area 

12,200 

square 

miles)

396

678

959

» 61, 100

46,500

25,000

22,000

16,000

14,000

11,500

10,500

9,650

9,890

8,190

7,790

8,190

8,600

7,210

6,460

Lamar 

(drainage 

area 

19,800 

square 

miles)

28

47

36

305

a 87, 300

28,000

23 400

15,500

13,000

10,700

9,560

9,000

8,460

11,400

10,700

10, 100

9,000

8,460

Holly 

(drainage 

area 

25,000 

square 

miles)

2&

36

26.

15

44,800-

< 59, 500

35, 00»

15,600

11,800

10,000

7,300.

7,300

7,700

7,220

7,200

8,700

8,590-

8,590

7,920«

i Peak discharge 103,000 second feet. 

J Peak discharge 200,000 second-feet.

» Peak discharge 165,000 second-feet. 

* Peak discharge 120,000 second-feet.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER

1929

83

The flood on the Purgatoire River, August 7, 1929, had a peak 

discharge of 52,800 second-feet at the mouth and caused a peak discharge of 45,300 second-feet on the Arkansas River at Lamar. The 

discharge from Purgatoire River was probably augmented by the 

rainfall that was general over the Arkansas Basin. The daily discharge of the Arkansas River above and below the mouth of the 

Purgatoire River August 5-10, is shown in the following table.

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Arkansas River, Aug. 6-10, 1929 

[From reports of Colorado State Engineer]

Gaging station

August

5

898 

1,770

6

553 

982

7

uo,ooo

4,440

8

7,400 

2 24, 800

9

6,360 

6,800

10

4,320 

5,200

1 Peak discharge 17,300 second-feet.

2 Peak discharge 45,300 second-feet.

1934

The effect on the discharge of the Arkansas River of a flood on the 

Purgatoire River, September 15, 1934, and of unrecorded floods on 

Apishapa and Timpas Creeks, is shown by the daily discharge of the 

Arkansas River at Nepesta, La Junta, and Lamar. Apishapa and 

Timpas Creeks enter the Arkansas River between Nepesta and La 

Junta, and the Purgatoire River enters it between La Junta and 

Lamar.

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Arkansas River, Sept. 13-18, 1984

September

13

103

19

9

14

90

19

5

15

324

12,840

2,800

16

66

110

'9,600

17

57

27

145

18

5£

20

14

i Peak discharge 12,600 second-feet. 

» Peak discharge 34,700 second-feet.

1944

The flood of July 4, 1944, on Wilson Creek, a tributary of Oil 

Creek (see p. 84), caused a flood in the Arkansas River below the 

mouth of Oil Creek. At the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co.'s diversion 

dam, 3 miles west of Florence, the crest arrived at 12:45 a. m., July 

5, and lasted about 30 minutes. Its discharge was computed as about 

19,000 second-feet by the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co.47a As the flood

476 Statement of H. H. Christy, assistant chief engineer.
84 FLOODS IN COLORADO

proceeded downstream its peak was reduced to 9,720 second-feet 

(4:15 a. m.) at the Portland gaging station, 9 miles downstream, and 

to 5,980 second-feet (8:15 a. m.) at the Pueblo station, 24 miles farther 

downstream.

GRAPE CREEK

Grape Creek rises in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and flows 

through Wet Mountain Valley, winch at its lower end has an altitude 

of 7,800 feet. Below Wet Mountain Valley the creek flows in a canyon 

cut through the Wet Mountains and joins the Arkansas River near 

Canon City. In the canyon section the creek falls 2,300 feet in 28 

miles, an average of 82 feet per mile.

Cloudbursts do not occur in Wet Mountain Valley but are frequent 

in the canyon section. The earliest recorded cloudburst flood on 

Grape Creek is that of August 9, 1889, which was described in the 

Canon City Record of August 17:

A storm visited this vicinity, \\hich will be long remembered. At about 4 

o'clock in the afternoon the clouds over Grape Creek attracted attention. It was 

not long till rain began to pour in town so hard that observations of Grape Creek 

were cut off. It rained nearly an hour in the city [about 1 inch].

The water came down Grape Creek in greater volume than ever before known, 

bringing down ties, rails, bridge timbers, etc. The water crossed Arkansas 

River {about 150 feet wide], washing out the track on the main line of the Denver 

<fe Rio Grande and piling it up on the north side. As the water came into the 

Arkansas it raised the river to a higher point than ever before known.

During 1925 a gaging station was maintained in the canyon section 

about 5% miles above the mouth, and the recording gage charts showed 

cloudburst floods on July 10, 16, 20, 21, and 29, and on August 3, 

5, and 25. The highest flood was that of July 21, which occurred at 

4 p. m. and reached a peak of 13.6 feet, rising 12.5 feet in less than 30 

minutes and dropping nearly as rapidly for the first 8 feet. From a 

slope-area measurement the peak discharge was found to be 14,500 

second-feet. This flood originated wholly in the canyon section, as 

the small rise in Wet Mountain Valley was stored in the Deweese-Dye 

Reservoir near the head of the canyon. The area between the reservoir and the gaging station is 145 square miles. It is probable, judging 

from the characteristics of cloudbursts, that the flood came from thu 

32 square miles of canyon section above the station. The other floods 

listed were veiy much smaller, no one of them exceeding a few thousand 

second-feet.

WILSON CREEK

Wilson Creek, a tributary of Oil Creek, drains a rugged area of 68 

square miles lying northwest of Canon City. A cloudburst on July 4, 

1944, caused a flood in the lower part of the creek which was said 

locally to have been the highest since about 1906. The Bureau of
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 997 PLATE 2

A. BRIDGE WEST OF PUEBLO.

B. RAILROAD YAKDS IX PIEBLO.

DAMAGE TO DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILROAD CAUSED BY FLOOD

OF JUNE 1921.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 997 PLATE 1

CITY OF DENVER DURING THE FLOOD OF MAY 19 20, 1864. 

Courtesy of Cherry Creek Flood Commission.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 85

Reclamation made an investigation of the flood of 1944, and the 

following description is based on that agency's report.

The heaviest rainfall occurred on the north side of the creek and 

extended about 4 miles above the mouth. A resident living near the 

mouth in NE% sec. 9, T. 18 S., R. 70 W., stated that the storm originated in the northwest, and that the intense precipitation, accompanied by some hail, lasted from 9:30 to 10:15 p. m. A light rain 

continued for some hours afterward. A wooden barrel in an orchard 

caught 6}i inches of water during the storm. In the SE% sec. 8, T. 

18 S., R. 70 W., near the southern edge of the area of intense rainfall, 

4)2 inches was measured in a steel gasoline barrel. An incomplete 

record in the center of sec. 15, T. 18 S., R. 80 W., gave 2% inches for 

about 35 minutes during the height of the storm. Oil Creek above 

the mouth of Wilson Creek did not have a severe flood; this indicates 

that the area of intense rainfall did not extend far above Wilson Creek.

A slope-area measurement made near the mouth of Wilson Creek in 

SW% sec. 3, T. 18 S., R. 70 W., indicated a peak discharge of 20,600 

second-feet, or 303 second-feet per square mile for the entire drainage 

basin. To obtain some indication of the unit run-off from the lower 

part of the basin, a slope-area measurement was made in NE% sec. 31, 

T. 17 S., R. 70 W., and this gave a peak discharge of 16,800 second-feet. 

From these two measurements, it appears that the peak discharge 

from the intervening area of 6.7 square miles was at least 3,800 

second-feet or 567 second-feet per square mile.

FOUNTAIN CREEK

Fountain Creek rises near Woodland Park and drains the northeast 

slope of Pikes Peak. It emerges from the foothills near Colorado 

Springs, flows 52 miles across the plains, and empties into the Arkansas River at Pueblo. In the mountains the creek has a heavy fall, 

but below Colorado Springs its fall decreases from 30 feet per mile to 

17 feet per mile near the mouth.

Prior to September 1, 1938, no gaging station was maintained on 

Fountain Creek. The Weather Bureau has a staff gage near the 

mouth, which is read during flood stages.

The earliest record of a flood on Fountain Creek is that of June 10, 

1864. The Colorado Springs Gazette of June 27, 1874, in a series of 

articles on early-day happenings, refers to the flood of 1864:

There had been several thunder showers and the creeks were somewhat swollen, 

though not so much as to cause any apprehension. But about 4 o'clock * * * 

a heavy cloud came up over Cheyenne Mountain and the sky gathered darkness 

until nearly sundown, when rain and hail began to fall in tremendous torrents. 

* * * The rain came down, not in drops, but in floods, the hail consisted of 

huge lumps of ice, some of them over 3 inches in diameter; the whole surface of 

the country was flooded as though it were a vast lake, and in some of the ravines
86 FLOODS IN COLORADO

the water rushed along in torrents 20 or 30 feet deep. The storm continued in 

full violence until about 9 o'clock. The area of the storm was confined within

* * * a radius of 3 or 4 miles.

The vast quantity of water shed from the mountains gathered in the valley and 

swept downstream in a wide torrent, covering all the low country adjacent to the 

creek. [Near the present town of Fountain several were drowned.] About 

midnight the people from 20 to 30 miles below Colorado City (adjacent to present 

city of Colorado Springs] were alarmed to find a flood of water rushing down upon 

them without warning. Some took refuge in the tops of their houses, others

* * * fled for their lives, and [nine] were drowned * * *. They fell into 

holes or ravines where the water was many feet deep. In the houses from which 

they fled the water was not more than 2 feet deep.

The crops were almost totally destroyed, and hundreds of acres were covered 

with "wash" so as to be ruined for cultivation. The flood was followed by several 

heavy rains in the mountains and the streams were high for many weeks. For a 

month or more it was impossible to ford the Fountain below Colorado City.

Near its mouth at Pueblo, Fountain Creek washed away many 

cabins on its banks, but no loss of life was reported. No estimate of 

the discharge is available, but as no mention is made of damage in 

Colorado City above Monument Creek, it is apparent that the peak 

at that point was not more than 8,000 second-feet, which is the present 

capacity of the Fountain Creek channel through Colorado Springs 

above Monument Creek.

The storm of May 21-22, 1876, which was apparently heaviest at 

Denver, caused 3.19 inches precipitation on Pikes Peak and 2.62 

inches at Colorado Springs. It is probable, however, that this precipitation was chiefly in the form of snow and caused no serious flood. 

The only reference to this flood is a statement in the Colorado Springs 

Gazette, May 27, 1876, to the effect that Fountain Creek had risen 

very high, but no mention was made of overflow or resulting damage.

Although the few available precipitation records for 1878 indicate 

no general storm, a cloudburst near Palmer Lake caused a flood in 

May reported by the Rocky Mountain News of May 20, 1878, as 

follows:

Monument and Fountain Creeks swept out bridges. El Paso County losses 

very heavy, caused by cloudburst in valley near Divide, followed by hail.

The heavy snow cover in the spring of 1884 caused a flood on 

Fountain Creek; the high water at its mouth was referred to by the 

Pueblo Commercial Standard, June 28, 1884:

The Fountain at Pueblo was wide, swift, and deep on Thursday [June 26] and 

swept away both the wagon bridges on Fifth Street and the Denver & Rio Grande 

Hailroad bridge.

This was about the date of the peak flows for that year in other 

streams of the State, caused by heavy rains augmenting the rapid 

melting of the deep snow cover. Although no mention was made of
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 87

rain in the Fountain Creek Basin, it is possible that heavy rain fell 

there also.

A severe cloudburst in the northern part of Colorado Springs on 

July 25, 1885, caused a sharp flood on Monument Creek which, 

according to the oldest inhabitant, was the highest known there up 

to that time.48 It was apparently of short duration, and the resulting 

flood on Fountain Creek was soon flattened out.

The next serious flood, that of May 30,1894, was caused by a general 

storm which resulted in floods in the South Platte and Arkansas 

River Basins. From May 21 to 27, precipitation of 2 inches or more 

in the upper basin of Fountain Creek had prepared the soil for rapid 

run-off of the intense precipitation of May 29-31 but as the heaviest 

precipitation was in the form of snow, the resulting flood was materially reduced. The flood in the vicinity of Colorado Springs was 

described in the Denver Republican for June 1, 1894, which quotes 

the following dispatch, dated May 31, from Colorado City:

The flood has done great damage at this place. The Fountain, which flows 

through this town, has been very high for the past 24 hours. Early this morning 

the north approach of West First Street Bridge was carried away. * * * 

The water rose so high by noon that a large amount of bridge timber and other 

material was carried away. * * * At 7:30 this evening a two-room house 

* * * located at the south end of West First Street Bridge was carried away.

At Manitou, Ruxton Creek was reported as being at the highest 

stage known. A Manitou dispatch, dated May 31, is quoted in the 

Rocky Mountain News of June 1, 1894:

Rain has been falling steadily all day, making a continuous fall of 50 hours, an 

unheard-of thing for Manitou. * * * This evening [May 31] the Ruxton is 

still a raging torrent, and the Fountain has been tearing away stone walls and 

foundations and bridges all day. * * * Canon Avenue, the road leading to 

Williams Canon, is a mountain torrent, down which hundreds of tons of rock 

have been washed.

Little damage was caused in Colorado Springs, as neither Fountain 

Creek nor Monument Creek overflowed its banks to any considerable 

extent.

In the lower valley of Fountain Creek the flood did considerable 

damage to the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. It changed the creek 

channel in two places and in so doing washed out the railroad track. 

In places only the rails were left swinging across great gaps, and near 

Eden the double track was out for a considerable distance. Conditions near the mouth of Fountain Creek are reported in the Colorado 

Springs Gazette of June 2, 1894:

The Fountain has only fallen 2 feet since morning. The damage caused by

48 Colorado Springs Gazette, August 1,1885.
FLOODS IN COLORADO

this stream cannot be estimated. At the Eighth Street Bridge [Pueblo] the 

water washed away the south bank, which is 25 feet high, for a distance of 300 

yards. [Another bridge with a span of 140 feet was required for the new channel.]

From May 26 to 28, 1902, rainfall was general over the Fountain 

Creek drainage area, the recorded precipitation being as follows:

Rainfall, in inches, in Fountain Creek Basin, May 26-28, 1902

Husted. -- .............-.........-. ..-. .-...-

Altitude

(feet)

6,540

6, 500

10, 265

6,OR8

4,685

26

0.58

.20

.10

1.32

.03

May

27

1.53

1.10

1.42

1.93

28

0.36

.45

.28

.34

Total

2.47

1.23

1.65

3.02

2.30

A cloudburst on May 27, 1902, between the southern edge of 

Colorado Springs and a point several miles south of Fountain, a 

distance of about 15 miles, caused a sudden flood on Fountain Creek. 

South of Kelker the creek cut a new channel 30 feet deep, making it 

necessary for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad to construct a new 

bridge. A former section foreman stated that at Buttes the flood 

moved the depot from the west side of the tracks to the east side, and 

twisted the rails around the section house to such an extent that the 

house was not washed away. As a result of that flood the railroad 

raised its tracks about 10 feet near Buttes. The Colorado Springs 

Gazette in its issue of June 5, 1902, described the experience of a 

rancher who was caught in the stream bed by the "wall of water 10 

feet high" and hurled from his carriage, but who managed to save his 

life. The Pueblo Chieftain reported that the greatest volume of 

water since the flood of 1864 reached Pueblo and destroyed everything in the lowlands of Fountain Creek.

One of the worst floods of record for this area was caused by the 

general storm of June 2-7, 1921. The flood in the vicinity of Colorado 

Springs is described in the Colorado Springs Gazette, June 4, 1921:

Shocks Run had before 9 p. m. [June 3] become a river. It had spread its 

waters over the northwestern part of the city, covering several blocks. * * * 

Sand Creek and Fountain Creek were roaring, [filling] the banks to overflowing, 

flooding gardens, farms, ranch houses, etc. * * * Old timers declared it 

the worst storm in 25 years. In Manitou the storm seemed not to have been assevere as in Colorado Springs.

In its issue of June 5, the Gazette continued:

Fountain Creek, Monument Creek, and Shocks Run, which night before last
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 89

overflowed their banks and caused families to flee, * * * subsided yesterday 

morning. * * * At the confluence of North and South Cheyenne Creeks, 

the main road past Stratton Park was a roaring river. Gardeners and ranchers 

suffered greatly in loss of crops, washed out by swollen streams or beat down by 

heavy rain and hail.

The flood on Fountain Creek overflowed the valley from Colorado 

Springs to the mouth of the creek at Pueblo, destroying bridges and 

damaging the agricultural land. Its peak reached Pueblo 3 hours 

after the peak in the Arkansas River had passed and when the river 

had fallen 7 feet.

The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad Co. compiled the following 

synopsis from statements by its employees:

Colorado Springs: Very heavy rain from early evening June 3 until morning 

June 4.

Fountain: Rained practically continuously from 4 p. m. to 4 a. m. The worst 

storm ever witnessed in Colorado. Could not see a car length ahead with a 

lantern. Water running over the track and nearly to the top of the Sand Creek 

Bridge.

Buttes: Flood came very suddenly at 11:15 p. m. and by morning had risen 

about 10 feet.

Pinon: Heavy rain started at 9 p. m. Water rose to depot about 4 a. m. 

Pumpman marooned in pumphouse. Stayed on top of pump until morning.

Bragdon: Storm began about 8:30 p. m. and rained terribly hard all night.

Eden: Terrible storm all night.

From additional information it appears that the peak on Fountain 

Creek between Buttes and Bragdon occurred between 11 p. m. and 

midnight June 3, and the peak at the mouth at 3 a. m. June 4.

No measurement of the peak discharge at Colorado Springs was 

made, but F. O. Ray, city engineer, states that neither Fountain Creek 

nor Monument Creek destroyed any bridges and that neither overflowed its banks in the city, where the channel capacity of Monument 

Creek was 10,000 second-feet and that of Fountain Creek above 

Monument Creek was 8,000 second-feet. Therefore, the peak just 

below the junction of the two creeks did not exceed 18,000 second-feet. 

The Geological Survey made a slope-area measurement at the mouth 

of Fountain Creek soon after the flood and found the peak discharge 

to be 34,000 second-feet. The total discharge from 9 p. m. June 3 to 

3 p. m. June 6 was about 70,000 acre-feet.49

Rain during the period July 27-30, 1932, was recorded in the 

Fountain Creek Basin by the United States Weather Bureau as 

follows:

« Follanshee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., The Arkansas River flood of June 3-5,1921: 17. S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 487, p. 33,1922.
90 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Rainfall, in inches, in Fountain Creek Basin, July 27-30, 1932

Pueblo.... _ ....-...... ......-.-.-. 

Altitude

(feet)

8,836

7, 200

10, 265

6, 0V 8

4,685

27

1.28

1.20

Ju

28

0.06

ly

29

0.16

.£2

1.78

1.30

30

0.76

.59

.86

1.76

.01

Total

3.20

l.Si

2.15

3.54

1.31

This storm caused a flood on Fountain Creek, which at its mouth 

had a peak discharge of 20,000 second-feet, as reported by the State 

Engineer. As rain was general over the basin, the creek was in flood 

from its headwaters to its mouth. A dispatch from Colorado Springs 

appearing in the Pueblo Chieftain of July 30, 1932, stated:

Following a cloudburst in the Black Forest a wall of water swept down through 

Temple ton Gap late this afternoon, flooding Papetown mining settlements just 

north of here and most of the northern part of the city.

A slope-area determination of the peak flow at Templeton Gap 

made by Paul V. Hodges indicated 6,100 second-feet. The Pueblo 

Chieftain of July 30, contained also the following statement:

Storm in Colorado east and south of Denver had its greatest intensity between 

Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Torrential rains near Fountain caused fear cf 

flood. Washouts [on railroads] between Buttes and Pinon consisted of several 

big holes undermining the track. A 200-foot section on the Denver & Rio Grande 

was washed to a depth of about 6 feet.

The torrential storm of May 30, 1935, which caused floods on the 

Republican River and on Kiowa and Bijou Creeks, was concentrated, 

in the Fountain Creek Basin, chiefly over Kettle Creek, a tributary 

of Monument Creek. The Office of the State Engineer, and the city 

engineer of Colorado Springs, both investigated the storm causing the 

flood. The following table summarizes the information obtained. 

The heaviest precipitation reported included an undetermined 

amount of hail.

In describing this flood, which was the greatest known on Monument Creek, the Colorado Springs Gazette, May 31, 1935, stated:

The destructive flood waters from a half dozen cloudbursts swept through 

Monument Valley * * * shortly after noon. Earlier, a cloudburst had 

sent Sand Creek, east of Colorado Springs, on a tear.

Dozens of houses in the low-lying areas were lifted from their foundations 

and moved, a few as far as 300 and 400 feet. * * * Railroads suffered 

heavily. Tracks of the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad were washed 

out for several hundred feet north from the road's station west of Antler's Park. 

The waters themselves reached the station. All bridges across Monument and 

Fountain Creeks in the city except [one] were destroyed.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 91

Rainfall in Fountain Creek Basin, May 30, 1935 

[Data furnished by State Engineer of Colorado, except as otherwise noted]

Location

Sec. 15, T. 11 S., R. 67 W.' _-.._.

Sec. 24, T. 11 S., R. 66 W._ ........

Sec. 31, T. 11 S., R. 65 W. ..........

Sec. 5, T. 12 S., R. 65 W. ...._....__

Sec. 6, T. 12 S., R. 65 W..... .......

Sec. 7, T. 12S., R. 65 W ....--_---.

NWH sec. 13, T. 12 S., R. 66 W....

Sec. 15, T. 12 S., R. 66 W. ..........

Sec. 16, T. 12 S., R. 66 W._ ........

SEH sec. 21, T. 12 S., R. 66 WA..._

Sec. 30, T. 12S., R. 65 W_. __-...._

Sec. 5, T. 13 S., R. 05 W__.. ........

Sec. 31, T. 12 S., R. 66 WA. ........

Sec. 5, T. 13 S., R. 66 W.... ........

Sec. 4, T. 13 S., R. 66 W_... ........

Sec. 21, T. 11 S., R. 67 W.. .........

NWJ4 sec. 16, T. 14 S., R. 66 W.'__. 

Sec. 1, T. 14 S., R.66W-..__......_

Sec. 12, T. 14 S., R. 67 W.*_. .......

Sec. 6, T. 16 S., R. 65 W_. ....-...__

Rainfall 

(inches)

0.27

3

8

10

12

18

18

12

8

8

8

4. 1

6

6

.1

2.34 

3

0

Method of measurement

rain gage.

Stock tank.. ________________

Standard Weather Bureau 

rain gage.

Time of occurrence

inittent.

to 2:30 p. m.; heaviest, 

noon to 12:45 p. in.

1 From reports of U. S. Weather Bureau.

2 Data furnished by F. O. Ray, city engineer of Colorado Springs.

Four lives were lost in Colorado Springs, and the property damage, 

exclusive of that suffered by the railroads, was estimated by the city 

engineer as $1,215,000. At Pikeview, 6 miles north of Colorado 

Springs, Monument Creek reached a stage of about 14 feet at the 

gaging station established September 1938.

The flood of 1935, like that of 1921, overflowed the valley of Fountain Creek from Colorado Springs to the mouth, at Pueblo, destroying 

bridges and damaging agricultural land. During its progress through 

the valley, creeks in the vicinity of Fountain that head above Colorado 

Springs in the region of intense rainfall were also in flood and contributed a very considerable but unknown quantity to the flood on 

Fountain Creek. At the site of the present gaging station on Fountain Creek below Fountain, the flood reached a peak stage of 14.4 

feet and overflowed the valley to a width of about half a mile. This 

stage was about 2 feet higher than that reached in 1921, when the 

channel was somewhat narrower, and is the highest known at this 

site. At Pueblo the flood eroded the banks in the vicinity of the 

State Hospital to such an extent that several small buildings were 

swept away. It was estimated that 4 acres of land was eroded. 

According to a witness of the floods of both 1921 and 1935 at a point 

IK miles above the mouth of Fountain Creek, the flood of 1935 was 

higher than that of 1921. During both floods the channel was scoured
92 FLOODS IN COLORADO

to bedrock, which lies at a depth of 3 to 9 feet below the sand hi the 

channel.

In Colorado Springs, Monument Creek reached flood stage in less 

than an hour, attained its peak 1% hours later, receded slightly for 

1% hours, and was back within its channel 1% hours later. F. O. Ray, 

city engineer of Colorado Springs, made a slope-area determination 

of the peak discharge in the best section, on Fountain Creek about 

3,000 feet below the mouth of Monument Creek. Here the discharge 

was found to be 55,000 second-feet. As the peak flow of Fountain 

Creek above the mouth of Monument Creek was determined to be 

about 5,000 second-feet, the peak discharge of Monument Creek was 

50,000 second-feet. Of the 238 square miles drained by Monument 

Creek, 75 square miles was affected by the intense rainfall. Therefore, 

the peak discharge represents a run-off of 667 second-feet per square 

mile of area directly affected. The total discharge of the flood on 

Monument Creek was estimated to be about 8,000 acre-feet. The 

Office of the State Engineer made a slope-area determination of the 

peak discharge at the mouth of Fountain Creek and found it to be 

about 35,000 second-feet.

COMPARISON OF FIOODS

No definite information relative to the magnitude of the flood of 

1864 throughout Fountain Creek Valley is available, but as the storm 

that preceded this flood was widespread, causing serious floods on other 

streams also, it would appear that the flood increased in magnitude 

throughout its course and that in the lower valley it was perhaps the 

greatest known.

Had it not been that much of the precipitation preceding the flood 

of 1894 was snow, that flood would doubtless have been greater than 

the flood of 1864. It appears, however, to have been less severe than 

the floods of 1921 and 1935.

During the flood of June 1921 the peak discharge increased from 

about 18,000 second-feet at Colorado Springs to 34,000 second-feet 

at the mouth of Fountain Creek, owing to the fact that the rainfall 

increased in amount toward the mouth. On the other hand, the 

flood of May 1935 was caused by intense rainfall on the headwaters, 

and there was little or no precipitation over the remainder of the 

valley. Had it not been for the floods on the tributary streams, whose 

headwaters are in the area of intense rainfall, the channel and valley 

storage along the main stream would have reduced the peak discharge 

at the mouth of Fountain Creek to a much smaller volume than 35,000 

second-feet.

It is difficult to compare the magnitude of the various floods on 

the basis of the stages corresponding to their peak discharges, because
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 93

each successive flood widened the channel. An observer who has been 

familiar with the creek at Fountain for many years says that in June 

1896 the 40-foot bridge was a log-crib structure whose condition indicated that it had been in use for a considerable number of years, and 

that the channel was narrow. That bridge was destroyed by the flood 

of May 1902, which so widened the channel that it was later necessary 

to lengthen the new bridge structure 30 feet. Succeeding floods have 

further widened the channel, until at the present time the bridge span 

is about 200 feet.

Fountain Creek is subject to sudden rises, and for many of them 

the discharge near the mouth at Pueblo has been measured or 

estimated by the Office of the State Engineer.

Miscellaneous peak discharges on Fountain Creek near mouth

Second-feet Second-feet

June 30, 1934__..._____ 20, 000

Aug. 15, 1921__...______ 10, 000

July 17, 1923____-----_.._-_- 10,000

Aug. 21, 1923____._-_-_.-- 10, 000

Aug. 1, 1923______________ 4, 000

Aug. 5, 1923._____..__-_____ 4, 000

Aug. 4, 1929____.._.______ 4, 000

Aug. 14, 1934_. _._..__._.__. 4,000

TEMPLETON GAP

A semicircular range of hills 5 miles northeast of Colorado Springs 

encloses a basin having a narrow outlet known as Templeton Gap. 

This area is subject to frequent cloudbursts and resulting floods. 

The earliest flood of record in this area, and apparently the most 

severe, occurred July 25, 1885, when cloudbursts were still called 

waterspouts. The Colorado Springs Gazette, July 26, 1885, gives 

this account:

H. T. Cook, who resides 5 miles northeast of Templeton Gap, says that for an 

hour during the evening [July 25] there was an incessant fall of rain to the extent 

that a tub near the house filled with water in the space of an hour. This indicates a rainfall of about 16 inches.

Immediately the mighty torrent came tearing down the gulch which runs 

through the ranch below the house, and, not withstanding the house is located 15 

feet above the gulch, the water completely surrounded it for a long distance, at 

a depth of several feet. The mighty torrent came rushing down the gulch in 

massive waves, capped with white foam. After 2 hours, the water having passed 

off into Sand Creek, 5 miles east of Templeton Gap, the water subsided from the 

vicinity of the house.

This account describes the runoff east of the hills surrounding 

Templeton Gap. The resulting flood through the gap, which entered 

Shocks Run, washed away houses that were considered above possible 

flood stage and caused one death.

Another cloudburst occurred May 27, 1922. An investigation of 

the flood that followed it was made within a few days by the Geological

755376 47 7
94 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Survey. 60 The peak discharge of 6,120 second-feet from 7.1 square 

miles gave a unit runoff of 862 second-feet per square mile. The 

total runoff from the storm was estimated at 757 acre-feet.

HOGANS GULCH

A cloudburst occurred August 7, 1904, on Hogans Gulch, a dry 

channel entering Fountain Creek near Eden. The Denver & Rio 

Grande Railroad estimated the peak discharge of the resulting 

flood at 9,640 second-feet, or 1,580 second-feet per square mile from 

the drainage area of 6.1 square miles. 51

ST. CHARLES RIVER

The St. Charles River drains the eastern slope of the southern 

half of the Greenhorn Range and the foothill region lying between 

that range and the Arkansas River. After leaving the mountains the 

St. Charles River flows through a canyon for 10 miles, below which 

the valley widens and the river finally emerges upon the plains, 

across which it flows to its junction with the Arkansas River, 8 miles 

below Pueblo. From Beulah to the plains the fall decreases from 119 

feet to 40 feet per mile, and across the plains the average fall is 25 

feet per mile.

Gaging stations on St. Charles River

Station

Drainage

area (square

miles)

166

482

Period of record

April to September 1922; March 1923 to September 1934.

The earliest recorded flood on the St. Charles River was that of 

May 20, 1901. The only information regarding it is contained in 

the press. The Pueblo Chieftain of May 23, 1901, included in a dispatch from Beulah:

On Monday evening [May 20] about 6 p. m., rain began to fall here with some 

hail. The storm increased until all the streams in the valley were out of their 

banks, and the oldest settlers * * * declared thev have never seen such a 

rainfall. All the bridges were washed out.

The issue of the Pueblo Chieftain of the day previous, May 22, had 

contained the following:

Rio Grande train 115 lies in the bed of the St. Charles River at San Carlos 

[about 12 miles above the mouth] a snarl of wreckage. * * * It was accomplished in less than 2 minutes * * * when the train bore down upon the 

trestle. Coincident with the striking of the trestle by the train came a 10-foot

50 Follansbee, Robert, and Hodges, P. V., Some floods in the Rocky Mountain region: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 520, p. 121, 1925.

51 Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., The Arkansas River flood of June 3-5,1921: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 487, p. 40, 1922.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 95

wall of water, which swept everything before it. The bridge is 12 feet high, 15 

bents long, each bent being 16 feet.

During the general storm of June 2-5, 1921, the St. Charles River 

had its highest flood of record. There were no precipitation stations 

of the United States Weather Bureau in the St. Charles Basin, but at 

stations in the adjacent Huerfano Basin the rainfall recorded was as 

shown in the following table:

Precipitation, in inches, in Huerfano River Basin, June 8-5, 1921

Altitude

(feet)

9,242

6,010

3

0.98

June

4

0.89

86

1.06

5

.56

Total

1.87

1.07

1.62

The Geological Survey made an investigation of the resulting floods 

on the Arkansas River and tributary streams in June 1921 and compiled statements of local residents regarding the rainfall. In Boggs 

Flat, adjacent to the St. Charles Basin on the north, it was reported 

that 5 inches of rain fell in 30 minutes on June 3, and that 6 inches of 

water ran over the prairie. At Beulah a hard rain during the night of 

June 3-4 was reported. 52 The original measurement of the peak 

discharge near the mouth of the St. Charles River was 71,800 secondfeet. Further study of that measurement and of the precipitation in 

the St. Charles Basin leads to the belief that the measurement is 'too 

high and that the peak was probably nearer 56,000 second-feet, as 

determined by the Office of the State Engineer. On that basis the 

total discharge during the flood was about 47,000 acre-feet.

Only one cloudburst flood on the St. Charles River is recorded. It 

occurred August 22, 1925, when a cloudburst caused a peak discharge 

of 21,800 second-feet, with the river at a stage of 22.13 feet, at Burnt 

Mill. The flood was of such short duration that the mean discharge 

for the day was only 1,250 second-feet. This flood did not reach the 

mouth of the river, as it was reduced to such an extent by channel 

storage that diversions absorbed it.

CHICO CREEK

The 750 square miles drained by Chico Creek adjoins on the east 

the area drained by Fountain Creek. Chico Creek rises 15 miles east 

of Colorado Springs and flows southward to the Arkansas River, 

which it joins 14 miles east of Pueblo. Throughout the upper half of 

its course the creek has an average fall of 65 feet per mile; in the lower

w Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., op. cit. (Water-Supply Paper 487), p. 14.
FLOODS IN COLORADO

half the fall is 29 feet per mile. Chico Creek carries little water except 

after heavy rains.

The greatest flood recorded on Chico Creek was that caused by the 

storm of June 2-5, 1921. The Office of the State Engineer made a 

slope-area measurement of the peak discharge and found it to be 

28,600 second-feet. The total discharge was about 36,000 acre-feet.53 

No record of precipitation in the basin during that storm is available.

The next highest measured discharge was 8,000 second-feet, on 

May 19, 1935, as determined by the Office of the State Engineer.

HUERFANO RIVER

The Huerfano River rises in the Sangre de Cristo Range at an 

altitude of about 11,000 feet, and drains the eastern slope of that 

range and the south slope of the Wet Mountains, emerging on the 

plains near Badito. It flows across the plains for a distance of 61 

miles through a series of canyons, finally entering the Arkansas River 

near Boone. For a distance of 11 miles above Badito the fall is 44 

feet per mile, from Badito to the mouth of Apache Creek it is 49 feet 

per mile, and below the mouth of Apache Creek it is gradually reduced 

to 27 feet per mile;

Gaging stations on Huerfano River

Station

Manzanares Crossing, near Kedwing . 

Badito-... . .- .. 

Near Undercliffe __ - ___ -

Drainage 

area 

(square 

miles)

76 

519

1,702

Period of record

July 1923 to date. 

August to December 1912; April 1923 to September

1925; March 1938 to date. 

August to December 1908; May 1938 to date.

Huerfano River is subject to cloudburst floods, although the station 

near Redwing appears to be near the upper limit of the cloudburst 

zone. The peak flow at the Redwing station during the period of 

record was about 1,500 second-feet on July 27, 1934, at a stage of 

4.8 feet. No further information is available.

The storm of October 4-6, 1911, which was general over southwestern Colorado, extended over the eastern slope of the Sangre de 

Cristo Range. Rainfall in the Huerfano River Basin and in adjacent 

basins during that storm was reported by the Weather Bureau as 

shown in the folio whig table.

« Follansbee, Kobert, and Jones, E. E., op. cit., p. 35.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 97 

Precipitation in inches, in Huerfano River Basin and adjacent basins, Oct. 4 6, 1911

Cuchara Camps _______________

Altitude

(feet)

8,250

8,200

9,242

8,000

4

0.21

.26

.59

.20

October

5

0.73

1.46

1.42

.95

6

0.09

.04

Total

1.03

1.72

2.01

1.19

The rainfall caused the failure of Goose Lake Reservoir (capacity 

about 500 acre-feet), near the head of the Huerfano River. It is 

probable that the reservoir had been nearly filled before it gave way 

and that the sudden release of the stored water caused the flood, 

which was described in the Pueblo Chieftain of October 6, as follows:

With the bursting of the reservoir a huge wall of water rushed down the [narrow 

mountain] valley a distance of 35 miles to Gardner, where a rancher lost his life, 

unable to escape the onrushing waters, which took away his home and barns 

and all his stock. * * * [Two men] living close to Manzanares Creek 

were drowned.

As the rainfall did not extend east of the mountains, it is probable 

that the (undetermined) peak discharge was so reduced that it was 

not a serious flood. This is borne out by the fact that the discharge 

of the Arkansas River at Nepesta below the mouth of the Huerfano 

River, was not much greater than at Pueblo, above the mouth.

The highest flood of actual record on Huerfano River occurred 

during the night of July 27-28, 1936, as a result of rains that were 

general throughout the central part of the State. The nearest 

point at which a Weather Bureau precipitation record was available 

was North Lake, in the Purgatoire River Basin, about 25 miles 

upstream from Trinidad. This showed 1.80 inches of rain on July 27. 

The Walsenburg Independent states that 0.97 of an inch of rain was 

recorded at Walsenburg. An investigation of this flood was made by 

the Geological Survey in 1939, and the following statements regarding 

the precipitation were obtained:

Sec. 8, T. 27 S., R. 71 W.: Very hard rain. Deer Creek, just below, had very 

heavy runoff and was evidently in area of extremely high precipitation. [No 

one living there.]

Redwing, sec. 2, T. 27 S., R. 71 W.: 2% inches estimated night of July 27-28. 

Storm hit the high ridges and dry arroyos.

Gardner, sec. 13, T. 26 S., R. 70 W.: No unusually heavy rain.

Badito, sec. 4, T. 27 S., R. 68 W.: For several-day period, % inch each day.

Diversion dam for Huerfano Valley ditch, sec. 22, T. 23 S., R. 63 W.: About 

1 inch of rain.

The Walsenburg Independent of July 28, 1936, stated:

The Huerfano River was reported out of its banks between Gardner and Farisita, flooding lowland gardens and carrying away hogs and other small livestock
98 FLOODS IN COLORADO

which was in the river bottom. Flooded arroyos made travel between Walsenburg and Gardner impossible. * * * The cloudbursts fell west of Gardner 

and Walsenburg, beginning at 1:30 Monday afternoon [July 27].

East of the mountains the river flows through a sparsely settled 

region, and no information regarding precipitation or flood is available, except at the gaging station near Undercliffe. It is believed, 

however, that precipitation occurred rather generally over the lower 

basin, as Weather Bureau records in the Arkansas Valley showed 1.21 

inches at Pueblo and 1.05 inches at Las Animas on July 27. At the 

.Redwing gaging station, the peak discharge was 488 second-feet and 

continued above 400 second-feet for several hours.

The high-water mark at Badito was connected with the gage datum 

established in 1938, and the peak discharge determined by extension of the rating curve was about 5,000 second-feet. The duration 

of the peak is not known. The gaging station near Undercliffe, in 

sec. 22, T. 23 S., R. 63 W., is 600 feet above the diversion dam of the 

Huerfano Valley ditch. From well-defined high-water marks and the 

length of the overflow section of the dam, which is virtually a broadcrested weir, the peak discharge, which reached a stage of 11.4 feet 

above the crest of the dam, was computed as 26,600 second-feet, 

after correction for velocity of approach. The head gates of the ditch 

were closed during the flood. R. F. Phillips, who lives at the dam, 

stated that the peak lasted from 2 to 3 hours. The only information 

relative to discharge at the mouth is a statement in the Pueblo StarJournal of July 28, 1936, to the effect that the Huerfano River at its 

mouth had a discharge of 5,000 second-feet.

By means of a scale at the dam, which had been rated by the 

Office of the State Engineer, Mr. Phillips estimated the peak flow of 

a number of minor floods during 1936. The largest of these are listed 

in the following table, in the order of diminishing peak discharge.

Minor floods on Huerfano River at Huerfano Valley Dam in 1936

1936

Peak discharge 

(secondfeet)

4,000

2,000

1,500

Duration 

(hours)

3

7

2

Rainfall 

at dam 

(inches)

0.03

.02

.01

.00

1936

Aug. 7_... _______

Sept. 1 ...........

Peak discharge 

(secondfeet)

1,500

1,500

1,500

1,500

Duration 

(hours)

4

3

5

7

Rainfall 

at dam 

(inches)

.03

.01

.01

.00

Although the lower part of the basin is subject to cloudbursts, the 

only cloudburst flood of record there is that of August 1, 1923. The 

Office of the State Engineer estimated the peak discharge on that day 

as 19,400 second-feet. The area affected by the storm is not known.-
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 99 

APISHAPA RIVER

The Apishapa River rises on the south and east slopes of the 

Spanish Peaks, an outlying mass of the Sangre de Cristo Range, at 

an altitude of 13,000 feet. It emerges from the foothills near Aguilar 

and flows for a distance of 83 miles across the rolling plains to its 

junction with the Arkansas River 4 miles east of Fowler. In its 

upper section the fall is 268 feet per mile, but across the plains the 

fall is 24 feet per mile. Prior to March 1938 no gaging station was 

maintained on the Apishapa River.

Of the cloudburst floods to which the upper river is subject, the 

highest for which definite knowledge is available occurred August 10, 

1938. It had a peek discharge of 5,200 second-feet at Aguilar, from a 

drainage area of 149 square miles.

The highest flood of record on Apishapa River occurred August 11, 

1930. According to Morris Pitti, who lives near the river at Aguilar, 

it remained near its peak for 18 hours, indicating that this was not a 

cloudburst flood but a flood caused by heavy rains well distributed 

over the entire drainage basin. No record of the rainfall is available, 

except that it occurred in the upper basin. There was no rainfall 

at Aguilar. A rancher living 10 miles above Aguilar stated that the 

summer of 1930 was a wet one with many heavy rains. His statement 

is borne out by the precipitation records during August 1930 which 

show general rainfall for the entire State. From well-defined highwater marks at the present gaging station the maximum stage was 

found to be 20.7 feet. This overflowed a width of 1,500 feet for a period 

of about 44 hours. No estimate of the peak discharge was made.

On the lower Apishapa River the greatest flood known occurred 

August 22, 1923, as a result of the failure of the Apishapa Dam, 35 

miles above the mouth which impounded 18,000 acre-feet of water. 

The immediate cause of its failure was a cloudburst flood caused by 

rains some distance above the reservoir, as there was little or no 

precipitation at the reservoir. Information relative to the storage 

capacity of the reservoir is too meager to make it possible to compute 

the peak discharge of the flood entering the reservoir. Shortly after 

the failure, Barton M. Jones, a consulting engineer, made an investigation and computed the maximum 15-minute average discharge 

from the reservoir due to its failure as 242,000 second-feet.6*

The channel and valley .storage on the lower river reduced this 

discharge to about 50,000 second-feet at the mouth. The average 

rate of travel of the water through the 35 miles between the dam and 

the mouth was about 10 miles per hour.

"Jones, B. M.f and Floyd, O. N., Further report on Apishapa Dam failure: Eng. News-Record, Sept. 13, 

1923, p. 423.
100 FLOODS IN COLORADO

PDRGATOIRE RIVER

The Purgatoire Kiver, one of the principal tributaries of the 

Arkansas River, drains the eastern slope of the Culebra Mountains. 

Emerging from the mountains near Trinidad, it flows 130 miles across 

the rolling plains to its junction with the Arkansas River near Las 

Animas. From a point about 20 miles east of Trinidad to the mouth 

of Smith Canyon, a distance of 46 miles, the river flows through a 

canyon. Below that point the canyon gives way to a narrow valley, 

which extends nearly to the mouth. For a distance of 9 miles above 

Trinidad the fall of the river is 39 feet per mile; below Trinidad the 

fall decreases to 30 feet per mile.

Gaging stations on Purgatoire River

Station

Trinidad. . .. . -

Highland Dam, near Las Animas..-

Drainage 

area (square 

miles)

742

1,300

2,900

3,320 

3,398

Period

May 1896 to July 1899, August to December 1905,

November 1906 to March 1907, October 1907 to 

November 1912, April 1916 to date.

tember 1928. 

October 1924 to date.

October 1931 to date.

April 1922 to September 1931.

The earliest flood on the Purgatoire River to which a reference has 

been found is that tentatively dated as 1859; evidence of a heavy flood 

on the lower stretch of the Arkansas River about that time has 

been noted. (See p. 74.)

The next flood on the Purgatoire River, according to available 

information, was in 1866. Meeker 65 states that a flood occurred at 

Trinidad in November 1866 and that two large floods occurred between 1866 and 1904. The exact dates of the two intervening floods 

could not be obtained, but it is probable that the first was in September 1875 and the second in June 1878. The total precipitation 

at Trinidad during June 1878 was 12.82 inches; the daily amounts 

are not available.

The earliest flood on the Purgatoire River for which definite information is available occurred in September 1875. Nothing is known 

regarding this flood in the upper part of the basin, but a flood near 

the mouth was described in the Las Animas Leader of September 18 

and 25, 1875. The following quotation from that newspaper is taken 

from the report by Meeker. 56

On September 16 a rush of water came down Purgatory |Purgatoire] River at 

Las Animas. The water was 5 feet higher than at any previous time that year.

w Meeker, K .1., Purgatoire Kiver flood: U. S. Oeol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 147, p. 163,1906. 

" Idem, p. 165.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 101

The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway Company's tracks were under 

water for one-half mile on each side of the Purgatory, the bridges being 3 to 4 

feet under water. Up the Purgatory considerable damage was done, the greatest 

losses being of cord wood, stacked hay, cattle, fences, and adobe houses.

The next flood on the Purgatoire River for which reference has 

been found occurred in 1883. The chief authority for this date is 

"83" cut in the stone doorframe of the Trinidad water-works building, 

which was erected in 1879 near the river. As the 1904 flood is similarly marked, it is evident that the mark "83" refers to a flood during 

that year. The 1883 mark is 14 inches below the 1904 mark. This 

difference in elevation, however, is not direct evidence of the relation 

between the two floods, as the 1904 flood greatly increased the width 

of the river channel. No records of the precipitation in the Purgatoire 

River Basin during 1883 are available, and the files of the local newspaper for that year have been destroyed. As no reference to a flood 

in the lower river during that year has been found, it appears that the 

flood was caused by a cloudburst above Trinidad, and that the peak 

flattened out as it proceeded downstream. The only information 

obtained in Trinidad was that the flood occurred about midsummer 

and reached as far south as the Presbyterian church, also for a considerable distance north of the river. The wooden bridge spanning 

the river was washed away. The channel was a quarter its present 

width and the banks were heavily timbered with larg<e cottonwood 

trees. 67

Another flood to which reference has been found is that of July 

24-25, 1886, during which 2-day period the precipitation at Las 

Animas was 3.36 inches. 68

The greatest flood known in this region occurred September 29-30, 

1904. The Geological Survey made an investigation a short time after 

the flood and published a complete report of it. 69 The following account is abstracted from that report.

The storm was most severe in New Mexico and caused record floods 

in the Canadian River Basin. In the Purgatoire River Basin the 

precipitation was especially heavy in Long Canyon, which enters 

Purgatoire River 6 miles above Trinidad, as the greater part of the 

flood originated in that water course. Raton Canyon, also, was a 

heavy contributor. The rise and fall of the river at Trinidad was 

reported by an eyewitness,60 as follows:

The river was high on the afternoon and evening of Sept. 29, and rose steadily 

during the early part of the night. At 11 p. m. the water level was still 1.5 feet

" Information furnished by Mrs. Ruth A. Justin, City Librarian. Trinidad.

« Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., The Arkansas River flood of June 3-5, 1921: U. S. Geol. 

Survey Water-Supply Paper 487, p. 37,1922.

' Meeker, R. I., Purgatoire River flood: U. S. Qeol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 147, pp. 158-169,1905. 

M Idem, p. 162.
102 FLOODS IN COLORADO

below the level of the river banks and about 5 feet deep in the channel. Shortly 

after this time the river rose rapidly and by 2:30 a. m. was at its highest stage, 

being 2 feet deep on the lawn of the Cardenas Hotel [near the stream] and within 

5 inches of the hotel floor. This stage lasted until about 4 a. m., when it began 

to fall. By 8 a. m. on Sept. 30 the river was again within its banks and was 

rapidly receding.

During the flood a large iron safe was washed out of the Santa Fe 

station at Trinidad, and some months later was found three-quarters 

of a mile downstream, buried in the sand, from which it was recovered 

by means of a large derrick. Property damage in Trinidad, which 

included destruction of the Commercial Street Bridge was estimated 

at $350,000. A slope-area measurement showed the peak discharge 

to have been 45,400 second-feet, or 61 second-feet per square mile. 

The total discharge September 28 to October 2 was about 50,000 

acre-feet. After this flood a wall was built in front of the railroad 

property, and the present Commercial Street Bridge was constructed. 

With these improvements the capacity of the channel in Trinidad is 

now 20,000 second-feet.61

Weather Bureau records for the storm of September 1904 on the 

Purgatoire and adjacent basins were as follows:

Rainfall, in inches, in Canadian, Purgatoire, and Huerfano River Basins, Sept.

26-30, 1904

Station

Canadian River basin, N. Mex.:

Purgatoire River basin:

Huerfano River basin:

Altitude 

(feet)

6,399 

6,660 

7,600

9,500 

5,994

5,270

3,899

8,250

September

26

0.90 

1.50 

.05

.48 

.18

......

27

0.19 

.80 

.37

2.03 

.72

.10

.75

28

1.10 

.63

1.36 

1.92

3.00

1.20

1.79

29

3.98 

2.30

3.13

2.15

.45

2.36

30

J5.91 "i.'eo"

......

Total

7.00 

7.38 

4.95

3.87 

5.95 

5.25 

1.65

4.90

i Includes precipitation of previous 2 days.

Between Trinidad and the canyon section of Purgatoire river the 

flood caused considerable damage to the farms and ranches in the 

valley and destroyed all the bridges over the river or washed out their 

approaches. The flood traversed the 130 miles between Trinidad and 

the mouth of the river in about 20 hours, or at the rate of 6.5 miles 

per hour. No estimate of the discharge at the mouth is available, but 

as the storm extended over the entire basin it is probable that the 

discharge was increased toward the mouth. The flood of 1904 in the 

lower course of the river was declared by local residents to be 2 feet 

higher than the flood of 1875.

u Letter from city engineer of Trinidad.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 103

On October 20, 1908, a flood occurred on the lower Purgatoire 

River below Smith Canyon, but the upper river was practically unaffected, as the increase in the discharge at Trinidad on October 18 was 

only from 17 to 63 second-feet. The Geological Survey made an 

investigation of this flood and published its report.62 From this report 

it appears that the southern limit of heavy rainfall was about 40 miles 

below Trinidad, near the canyon section of the river. The only precipitation stations in the basin were at Hoehne, which is below Trinidad, 

and at Las Animas, at the mouth. The following table gives these 

records.

Rainfall, in inches, in Purgatoire River Basin, Oct. 18-19, 1908

Station Altitude 

(feet)

5,721 

3,899

October

18

0.22 

.64

19

0.60 

1.42

Total

0.88 

2.06

As very heavy discharges were reported from Smith Canyon, Bent 

Canyon, and other tributaries in the canyon section, it is evident that 

the precipitation in the canyon section was much heavier than that 

recorded at Hoehne and Las Animas. The river was out of its banks 

at the railroad bridge at Las Animas, and it overflowed both banks for 

a considerable distance. About 10 miles south of Las Animas a family 

living in a house near the river was forced to take refuge on the second 

floor as the river flooded the first floor to a depth of several feet. The 

river remained in flood for 48 hours or longer. Its stage, however, 

was not as high as during several previous floods. No estimate of the 

peak discharge was made. The storm that caused the Purgatoire 

River flood covered also the Rule Creek Basin 18 miles southwest of 

Las Animas. Three thousand sheep in a corral believed to be above 

the danger from floods were drowned during the night. The Mexican 

herders were asleep nearby and knew nothing of their loss until the 

next morning.63

The general storm of October 4-6, 1911, which caused serious floods 

in the San Juan Basin and the San Luis Valley, extended into the 

Purgatoire River Basin. The Trinidad Chronicle-News of October 

5, 1911, reported:

Trinidad and vicinity was visited last night by one of the worst rainstorms of 

years. The river reached a high point at midnight, but steadily receded today. 

Arroyos were swollen and creeks running full, and lowlands were flooded. * * * 

Little actual damage was done.

*» Freeman, W. B.f Flood In the Arkansas Valley, Colo., October 1908: U. 8. Qeol. Survey WaterSupply Paper 247, pp. 33-40,1910. 

«»Trinidad Chronicle-News, Oct. 21,1908.
104 FLOODS IN COLORADO

No record of the peak discharge at Trinidad is available, but it must 

have been of short duration, as the mean daily discharge was increased 

from 42 second-feet October 4, to 1,120 second-feet October 5, and fell 

to 390 second-feet October 6.

Heavy rains July 19-22, 1925, caused a peak discharge at Trinidad 

that was the second highest of record there. Weather Bureau stations 

reported the following amounts:

Rainfall, in inches, in Purgatoire River Basin, July 19 22, 1925

Altitude

(feet)

8,700

5,994

8,200

6,010

19

0.13

.26

Ju

20

0.03

.31

.46

iy

21

0.53

.50

1.91

22

0.09

1.70

Total

0.69

r,n

.40

4.33

J. H. Baily, chief hydrographer of Colorado, made an investigation 

of this flood and found that it originated west of Trinidad, chiefly on 

tributaries on the north side of the Purgatoire River, particularly in 

Burro and Smith Canyons. It was reported that a coal bucket at the 

mouth of Smith Canyon was filled with water during the 40 minutes 

that the storm lasted, indicating a rainfall of 5 inches.

Reporting this flood in Trinidad the Trinidad Chronicle-News of 

July 23, 1925, stated:

Scores of people along the river course about Cottonwood Avenue, Linden 

Avenue, and immediate area and a portion of Nevada Avenue and adjacent to 

the river * * * were forced to leave their homes. These areas were submerged. The Santa Fe depot and Cardenas Hotel property were under water, 

and the torrent swept some baggage trucks into the flood.

The flood peak at Trinidad was computed by studying the flow 

through the contracted opening of a concrete arch bridge and making 

a slope-area measurement of the overflow, which amounted to 5,700 

second-feet. The total peak discharge thus estimated was 83,300 

second-feet.

Gage height and discharge of Purgatoire River at Trinidad July 22-23, 1925

July

22....... 

Time

6:30 p. m ... 

7:00 p. m ...... 

7:30 p. m ...

Gage 

height 

(feet)

3.0 

5.0 

13.2

Discharge 

(secondfeet)

1,000 

3,300 

33, 300

July

22............ 

23..... ....

Time

10:00 p.m. . 

7:00 a. m ......

Gage 

height 

(feet)

7.0 

3.0

Discharge 

(secondfeet)

8,500 

1,600

The total discharge during the flood was 8,150 acre-feet. The 

maximum stage appears from available information to have been 

about 2 feet lower than that of September 30, 1904.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 105

The second highest flood in the Purgatoire River Basin, so far as 

known, occurred April 23-24, 1942. The Geological Survey made an 

investigation of it in cooperation with the Corps of Engineers, United 

States Army, the Colorado State Engineer, and the Bureau of 

Reclamation.

April 1942 was one of the wettest months recorded in Colorado. 

At the beginning of the month the snow cover in the mountains was 

about normal. During the first week, temperatures above normal 

softened the mountain snow and started its melting. Heavy precipitation occurred April 6-8 and 16-20 over the entire Purgatoire 

River Basin, that in the mountains being in the form of wet snow. 

Precipitation again occurred April 22-25 and even in the mountains, 

was in the form of rain which later turned to snow. This rain hastened the melting of the wet snow deposited a few days previously, 

and also the older snow, with the result that a severe flood occurred.

In recent years both the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, 

and the Soil Conservation Service have installed rain gages in the 

Purgatoire River Basin; their records together with those of the 

Weather Bureau are presented in the following table:

Precipitation, in inches, in Purgatoire River Basin, April 6 8, 16 80, SS St. 

[Stations listed in order from southwest to northeast]

North Lake (19-32-68). 

Stonewall (30-33-68)1... -

Sarcillo (16-33-66)1 

Hoehne (6-32-62) ....... _ - ____

Andrix (12-32-52)1... -----------

Higbee (32-26-54)*- ....... .........

Alti-

(feet)

8,800

8,200

7,700

7,000

6,800

6,900

6,700

6,280

6, 250

5,683

5,200

5,735

r 4nn

4,488

4,480

4, 2M

3,899

6-8

1.00

1.40

1.55

.66

(Some

.20

.92

.88

.62

.54

.65

.80

.83

.91

.90

1.00

.92

.99

.49

16-20

1.96

2.47

2.97

2.76

3.30

3.61

3.75

4.07

3.75

3.58

2.73

4.22

3.75

4.88

3.13

4.50

3.96

4.11

1.95

2.07

3.30

2.04

April

22

1.66

(2)

m

2.17

.28

1.45

.60

.96

I 00

1.25

.74

.06

23

0.62

( )

(2)

1,10

1.30

1.16

1.30

1.38

1.11

.80

.56

.60

.60

.90

(')

.63

.41

24

1.06

1.64

(2)

2.02

.80

.90 .73-

.61

.45

.40

.35

.54

.40

.35

.38

.40

.80

.25

.28

.19

25

2.15

.11

.11

Tr.

.12

.12

Subtotal

Apr. 

22-25

3 Ofi

2.15

2.02

1.90

2.14

2.14

1.84

1.70

1.10

2

0A

1.00

1.34

.99

1.03

A. PA

7.17

6.67

f; 44

5.20

6.68+

6.09

7.21

5.89

5.19

6.08

6.10

c AV

 7 04

7.31

5.00

3.98 '

5.32

1 Soil Conservation Service station.

2 Record included in that for following day.

» Private station.

* Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, station.
106 FLOODS IN COLORADO

The rain of April 16-20 caused high water which reached its peak 

at the gaging stations, as follows:

Peak discharge of Purgatoire River, Apr. 19-20, 194%

Station Time

April 19, 6:30 p. m .........................

April 20, 7:00 p. m.... ............ _ ...

Stage 

(feet)

4.85

7.4

8.6

Discharge 

(secondfeet)

3,240

15,000

17,300

The relatively low peak at Trinidad, which is close to the mountains, 

showed the influence of precipitation in the form of snow during that 

period.

The main flood was the direct result of the heavy rain which occurred 

April 22 and the early morning of April 23. During the previous few 

days the mountain snow had melted during the day and frozen during 

the night, causing marked diurnal fluctuations in discharge at Trinidad, 

the peak of the fluctuation occurring between 6 and 8 p. m. On the 

night of April 23 the diurnal peak of 5.7 feet was reached about 6 

p. m. and instead of receding remained stationary for 4 hours. Then 

the increase resulting from rain on the melting snow reached Trinidad 

and the stage rose from 5.7 feet to a peak of 14.03 feet at 5 o'clock 

the next morning, April 24. This stage was maintained for half an 

hour or less, and then the river began to fall almost as swiftly as it had 

risen, and by noon was back in its banks. The sudden drop was due 

to the fact that the rain in the mountains turned to snow, and the 

accompanying drop in temperature retarded the snow melt.

As in the 1904 flood, the chief sources of the 1942 flood were Long 

Canyon and Raton Canyon. Other tributaries from the south as far 

west as Lorencito Canyon contributed, but tributaries from the north 

added little. Above Trinidad the Colorado & Wyoming Railroad, 

serving the coal mines along the river, lost several miles of track when 

the bank was washed away. In Raton Canyon considerable damage 

was sustained by the Santa Fe Railroad and U. S. Highway 85-87. 

The flood overtopped the retaining walls in Trinidad, inundated the 

Santa Fe tracks to a depth of several feet, and undermined two tracks 

near the depot. Two highway bridges and one approach and abutment to a railroad bridge were destroyed, and low-lying land along 

the river inundated. No lives were lost.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 107

Below Trinidad, especially in the Sunflower Valley district, most of 

the irrigation dams and head works were either destroyed or seriously 

damaged, and a large area of cultivated land was inundated. Farther 

downstream the damage was less, and below the canyon section there 

was but little overflow.

To determine the peak discharges, slope-area measurements were 

made at the gaging stations, as follows:

Peak discharge of Purgatoire River, Apr. 23-24, 1942

Station

Trinidad--.--.... __ .......... __ .

Highland Dam.. ___ ... ______ .

Time

April 23, 5 a. m ____ . ...................

April 24, 3 a. m. ... _________ ...

Stage 

(feet)

14.03

14.03

13.29

Discharge 

(secondfeet)

35,800

50,000

60,000

The exact time of the peak at Highland Dam is uncertain. The 

observer reported that it occurred between 1: 30 and 5 a. m. During 

the flood of April 19, 1942, alnd that of September 15, 1934, the peaks 

traversed the 25 miles between Ninemile Dam and Highland Dam in 

6 hours. On that basis the time of the 1942 flood peak at Highland 

Dam appears to have occurred at 3 a. m.

The bihourly stages and discharges for the gaging stations at 

Trinidad and Highland Dam are presented in the following tables.

Bihourly stage, in feet, and discharge, in second-feet, of Purgatoire River at Trinidad,

Apr. 19-28, 1942

Hour

April 19

Gage 

height

3.00 

3.00 

2.87 

2.76 

2.74 

2.77 

3.30 

3.60 

4.80 

4.28 

3.82 

3.57

Discharge

700 

700 

638 

598 

592 

601 

910 

1,170 

3,000 

2,240 

1,660 

1,410

1 1Sft

April 20

Gage 

height

3.45 

3.33 

3.22 

3.13 

3.07 

3.07 

3.30 

3.60 

4.00 

4.30 

4.20 

4.04

Discharge

1,400 

1,290 

1,190 

1,110 

1,050 

1,050 

1,260 

1,540 

2,000 

2,410 

2,340 

2,110

1,560

April 21

Gage 

height

3.85 

3.72 

3.61 

3.50 

3.41 

3.36 

3.70 

4.75 

5.60 

6.00 

5.90 

5.62

Discharge

1,590 

1,460 

1,360 

1,260 

1,180 

1,130 

1,440 

2,780 

4,250 

5,020 

4,820 

4,190

2,540

April 22

Gage 

height

5.30 

5.00 

4.83 

4.62 

4.43 

4.30 

4.55 

5.35 

5.65 

5.63 

5.65 

7.40

Discharge

3,690 

3,330 

3,040 

2,880 

2,600 

2,410 

2,780 

4,160 

4,720 

4,690 

4,720 

8,620

3,980

April 23

Gage 

height

9.15 

11.7 

13.20 

12.0 

9.75 

7.40 

5.16 

5.12 

5.10 

5.08 

5.04 

5.00

Discharge

14,000 

25,000 

i 32, 000 

26, 400 

16,600 

9,180 

4,370 

4,290 

4,250 

4,210 

4,140 

4,040

12,400

1 Peak stage 14.03 feet; discharge 35,800 second-feet at 5 a. m.

NOTE. The recorder was removed at 7:30 a. m. Apr. 23, and thereafter a number of readings from the 

chain gage were obtained. A hydrograph based on those readings was constructed, from which the bihourly 

gage heights were obtained. The total discharge from 10 p. m. Apr. 22 to 2 p. m. Apr. 23, representing the 

main flood, was 22,600 acre-feet.
108 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Bihourly stage, in feet, and discharge, in second-feet, of Purgatoire River at Highland

Dam, Apr. 19-25, 1942

Hour

10 a. m_. _ .-.-. .-

Mean .-... 

April 19

Gage 

height

3.18 

3.30 

3.75 

3.45

3.50 

3.55 

3.55 

3.50 

3.72 

3.85 

4.25 

4.40

Discharge

580 

780 

1,550 

1,030 

1,110 

1,200 

1,200 

1,100 

1,490 

1,730 

2,480 

2,780

1,420

April 20

Gage 

height

4.65 

4.80 

5.75 

6.25 

6.75 

7.10 

7.50 

7.75 

-8.60 

8.25 

7.50 

6.40

Discharge

3,470 

3,800 

6,100 

7,530 

9,030 

10, 200 

11,800 

12, 800 

17, 300 

15, 400 

11,700 

7,920

9,750

April 21

Gage 

height

5.75 

5.45 

5.27 

5.10 

4.90 

5.08 

5.35 

5.50 

5.60 

5.52 

5.37 

5.20

Discharge

6,240 

5,460 

5,030 

4,620 

4,140 

4,570 

5,220 

5,580 

5,840 

5,640 

5,270 

4,860

5,200

April 22

Gage 

height

5.00

4.88 

4.75 

4.50 

4.55 

5.00 

5.50 

6.00 

6.35 

6.50 

6.60 

6.40

Discharge

4,210 

3,930 

3,650 

3,100 

3,210 

4,210 

5,410 

6,740 

7,770 

8,130 

8,430 

7,830

5,550

Hour

April 23

Gage 

height

5.95 

5.40 

5.30 

5.40 

5.55 

5.75 

6.10 

6.48 

6.70 

6.95 

7.50 

8.50

Discharge

6,380 

4,980 

4,740 

4,980 

5,340 

5,840 

6, 660 

7,770 

8,430 

9,180 

11, 200 

16, 000

7,620

April 24

Gage 

height

12.9 

13.0 

11.6 

10.25 

9.1 

8.55 

8.0 

7.50 

7.45 

7.42 

7.38 

7.35

Discharge

56,400 

i 57, 600 

46, 300 

32, 000 

22, 100 

18, 300 

15,200 

12, 700 

12, 400 

12, 300 

12, 100 

12, 000

25, 800

April 25

Gage 

height

7.32 

7.30 

7.27 

7.24 

7.22 

7.20 

6.95 

6.70 

6.50 

6.30 

6.15 

6.0

Discharge

11, 100 

11, 000 

10, 900 

10, 800 

10, 700 

10,600 

9,340. 

8,580 

7,980 

7.380 

6,880 

6,380

9,300

i Peak stage 13.29 feet; discharge 60,000 second-feet about 3 a. m. Apr. 24.

NOTE. The recorder was removed at 9 p. m. Apr. 23, and thereafter the observer made frequent readings 

of the staff gage. A hydrograph based on these readings was constructed, from which the bihourly gage 

heights were obtained. The total discharge from noon Apr. 23 to midnight Apr. 25 was 78,500 acre-feet.

Although the floods of September 30, 1904, July 22, 1925, and April 

23-24, 1942, were the only severe ones of record at Trinidad, the Purgatoire River is subject to flash peaks due to cloudbursts in various parts, 

of its drainage basin. Information is available regarding flash 

floods that have occurred since 1923, when gaging stations in the lower 

basin were established by the State Engineer. In the table on p. 109,. 

which gives the peaks and daily discharges for floods on the Purgatoire River during the period 1923-36, the data are arranged in four 

groups in order to show the effect of rain on various parts of the basin. 

These groups are as follows:

Group 1. No flood at Trinidad, at the edge of the mountains,, 

but flood on lower river.

Group 2. Greater flood at Trinidad than in lower river, owing; 

chiefly to rains in the mountains but not on the plains.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 109

Group 3. Increase in flood from Trinidad to Ninemile Dam in the 

canyon section, but decrease farther downstream, indicating that the 

storms centered chiefly over the canyon section.

Group 4. Flood increasing from Trinidad to mouth. In this group 

the data are limited to Trinidad and Las Animas. It may be that 

one or all of the floods listed in this group should be in group 3.

The sharpness of the peak of most of the floods is indicated by the 

difference between the peak flow and the mean for the day.

Flood peak and mean daily discharge, in second-feet, at gaging stations on Purgatoire River, June 1923 to August 1936

Date

GROUP 1 

July 21, 1927...- .

Julvl3, 1927__ ___

June 17, 1923.-. .

Aug. 7, 1827________

May 11,1928... .

GROUP 2 

JulvSO, 1936________

July 31, 1930. ____

May 30, 1929_ ______

Aug. 17, lfe28___.-__

Aug. 23, 1927- 

GROUP 3 

Aug. 28, 1935 .

July 22, 1935- .

Aug. 7, 1936-- 

Aug. 3, 1927. _______

Aug. 7, 1929 ..

Sept. 15, 1934--... ._

GROUP 4 

Aug. 17, 1923. 

Aug. 23, 1923. ......

Aug. 12, 1823.-.-..

Trinidad 

(drainage area 

742 square 

miles)

Peak

(0 

692 

0) (<) 

7,100

11,800 

13, 200 

13, 200 

15,000 

19, 600

1,060 

2,790 

(') 

(0 

4,850 (')

3,460 

10,500 

14, 100

Daily 

mean

36 

129 

313 

350

977

208 

1,620 

1,680 

622 

1,990

88 

325 

542 

324 

933 

36

895 

850 

1,550

Alfalfa 

(drainage area 

1,300 square 

miles)

Peak

(') 

(0

19,100 

(')

(') 

0)

(2)

Daily 

mean

72 

385

3,780 

34

383

452

800

Ninemile Dam 

(drainage area 

2,600 square 

miles)

Peak

0) 

2,620

11,300 

9,400

0) 

2,090 

0) 

1,800 

4,110

13, 000 

16, 200 

15,000

30, 100 

55, GOO 

64, SCO

Daily 

mean

50 

1,200

3,510 

8,250

1,100 

794 

407 

388 

1,470

1,980 

4,010 

3,290 

9,200 

27, 000 

11, 300

Highland Dam 

(drainage area 

3,320 square 

miles)

Peak

6,820 

5,970 

9,200

33, 000

Daily 

mean

2,040 

3,130 

5,240

2,500

Las Animas 

(drainage area 

3,398 square 

miles)

Peak

49, 000 

Ifi, 200 

28, 400 

26, 400 

35, 500

2,270 

320 

1,200 

5,260

21, 200 

52, 800

21,500 

21,500 

21, 500

Daily 

mean

6,760

7,820 

5,650 

4,270 

7,860

854 

320 

682 

2,500

8,730 

23,000

6,840 

12,700 

6,370

1 No appreciable flood rise.

2 Data not available.

The mileage between stations is as follows: Trinidad to canyon 

entrance, near Alfalfa, 29; canyon entrance to Ninemile Dam, near 

Higbee, 62; Ninemile Dam to Highland Dam, near Las Animas, 25; 

Highland Dam to mouth, near Las Animas, 14.

The flood data presented shows that the entire basin from the foothills just west of Trinidad to the mouth at Las Animas is subject to 

heavy rains that in small areas are true cloudbursts. In the canyon 

section the cloudbursts are most severe, as shown by the floods in 

group 3. Between Ninemile Dam and Highland Dam the discharge

755376 47-
110 FLOODS IN COLORADO

from Smith Canyon enters the Purgatoire River, and as this stretch 

is also in the canyon section it too is subject to cloudburst floods, as is 

shown by the floods of July 13, July 21, and August 7, 1927, and May 

11, 1928, in group 1. Of the floods listed in this table a special investigation was made only of the one on September 15, 1934.

The highest peak flow actually recorded on the Purgatoire River is 

64,500 second-feet at Ninemile Dam, September 15, 1934. The only 

reported precipitation in the basin at that time was 1.06 inches at 

Trinidad. Recorded daily discharges of the Purgatoire River during 

the 5-day period of the flood are shown in the following table.

Mean daily discharge, in second-feet, of Purgatoire River, Sept. 13-18, 1934

Station

September

13

13 

13 

3

14

21 

6 

1

15

36 

11, 300 

2,300

16

23 

343 

2,500

17

19 

109 

500

18

17 

58 

100

The State Engineer's Office made an investigation of this flood, and 

the unpublished report by L. T. Burgess, chief hydrographer, states 

that the storm area was about 15 miles wide, extending in a southeasterly direction from a point south of Avondale to a point a few 

miles southeast of Villagreen and Tobe. The following information 

relative to the precipitation was obtained locally.

Rainfall on Purgatoire River, Sept. 15, 1934 

[Compiled from statements by local residents]

Location

Sec. 3, T., 31 S., R. 58 W......... .......

T. 29 S., R. 59 W... ....................

T. 30 S., R. 58 W. .. .... .... ...

Sec. 23, T. 31 S., R. 55 W ____ .. __ ..

Sec. 34, T. 32 S., R. 55 W. ..............

Sec. 23, T. 33 S., R. 57 W. ..............

Rainfall 

(inches)

1

5 

2

Method of measurement

Estimated... ...........

Measured in coffee pot..

Remarks

Intense rain for 2 hours. 

Water ran off prairie in 

sheets. 

Do.

The storm covered 620 square miles of the Purgatoire River drainage 

basin, all between the Trinidad and Ninemile Dam stations. A slopearea determination of the peak discharge at the Ninemile Dam station 

showed that discharge to be 64,500 second-feet at a gage height of 

12.0 feet, or 104 second-feet per square mile from the 620 square miles 

covered by the storm. The river rose 10.7 feet in 3 hours, reached 

its peak at 6 a. m., remained at the peak less than half an hour, then 

dropped 9 feet in 10 hours, and by the next day was back at normal 

stage. The total discharge during the flood was about 23,000 acrefeet. The flood traversed the 25 miles of channel between Ninemile
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 111

DanVfjand Highland Dam stations in 6 hours and was reduced by 

channel storage to 33,000 second-feet.

WOLF CREEK AND GRANADA CREEK

Cloudburst storms during the night of July 11-12, 1935, caused 

heavy floods on Wolf Creek and Granada Creek, which drain adjacent 

areas south of Granada in the extreme eastern part of Colorado. 

The Office of the State Engineer investigated these floods and furnished the data used here.

The Weather Bureau stations in the general vicinity reported the 

following precipitation:

Rainfall, in inches, on Wolf and Granada Creeks, July 11-12, 1935

Station

HoUy...... ....... ............................. ...-.-.-..-....--.._._....._.-....-..

July 11

0.58

July 12

0.22

1 4-1

These stations were not within the area of intense rainfall of July 

11-12, but statements of local residents were compiled, as follows:

Rainfall on Wolf Creek and Granada Creeks, night of July 11-12, 19S5

Location

Sec. 7, T. 26 S., E. 45 W.. . 

Sec. 33, T. 25 S., R. 45 W. __...._ 

NWMSEM sec. 25, T. 25 S., E. 45 W.

NEHSEH sec. 25, T. 25 S., R. 45 W.

Sec. 19, T. 25 S., R. 45 W.... ....

Sec. 23, T. 25 S., K. 45 W. ..........

Sec. 28, T. 25 S., E. 44 W..- ....

Sec. 9, T. 25 S., R. 45 W. .......... .

Sec. 7, T. 25 S., E. 44 W.. .......

Sec. 33, T. 24 S., E. 44 W. ..... ..

Sec. 23, T. 24 S., E. 45 W.-. ....

Sec. 13, T. 24 S., E. 44 W.. . ..

Sec. 26, T. 24 S., E. 44 W -

Eainfall 

(inches)

4H

Q 1,

m+

7+

QJAM t 4H+

fij2

8

3

Method of 

measurement

Jar...... . ..........

Can ____ . .........

Remarks

8 and 9 p. m.

7 to 8 p. m.

minutes.

E

. m.; 6 inches in 30 minutes, 

 om side hill.

heavy. 

8:30 p. m. to 2:30 a. m.; hard rain

first hour.

Slope-area measurements of peak discharges were made and 

information relative to the duration of the floods was obtained.

Peak discharge and duration of flood on Wolf and Granada Creeks, July 11-12, 1935

Stream

Wolf Creek. .....................

Drainage 

area of 

intense 

rainfall 

(square 

miles)

25 

35

Peak discharge 

(second-feet)

Total

14,000 

31,000

Per square 

mile

560 

886

Duration of flood

8 hours; 2 hours at peak. 

Do.
112 FLOODS IN COLORADO

The Wolf Creek flood inundated the main street of Granada to a 

depth of 3% feet; one citizen was caught by the flood just above town 

and spent the night in a tree. The Granada Creek flood is reported 

to have caused the loss of eight lives and very considerable property 

loss.

TWO BUTTE CREEK

Two Butte Creek, a southern tributary of the Arkansas Kiver 

entering near Holly, drains about 900 square miles of plains in southeastern Colorado. During the storm of October 18-19, 1908, more 

than 1}£ inches of rain fell in its basin and caused a flood that was 

estimated, from a high-water cross section, to have a peak discharge 

of 35,000 second-feet, or 39 second-feet per square mile. 64

WILD HORSE CREEK

Wild Horse Creek is a minor tributary entering the Arkansas Kiver 

near Holly. A cloudburst storm during the night of August 28-29, 

1935, caused a severe flood on this creek, which destroyed the recently 

completed Horse Creek Keservoir. The State Engineer made an 

investigation of the flood, and the following data, with the exception 

of the Weather Bureau records, are taken from his report. 65

Rainfall on Wild Horse Creek Basin, Aug. 28-29, 1935 

From Weather Bureau records

Station 

Haswell.

Inches 

-___-________-_-___---_______________.___. Trace

_____.____-_.___._.__________ 1. 19

Long Branch__________________________________________ . 04

Two Buttes_____________________________________ . 03

Rainfall on Wild Horse Creek Basin, Aug. 28-29, 1935 

[Compiled from statements of local residents]

Location

Sec. 36, T. 19 S. R. 42W.... 

Sec. 18, T. 20 S. R. 42 W. .-..----

Sec. 19, T. 20 S. R. 42 W. ........

Sec. 20, T. 20 S. R. 42 W. ........

Sec. 5, T. 21 S., R. 41 W ........

Sec. 2, T. 21 S., R. 42 W ........

Sec. 4, T. 21 S., R. 42 W.. .... .

Rainfall

(inches)

8

8

5

8H+

7

11+

8

Method of measurement

Bucket

Bucket. .... . . ---.

Bucket __ -.-. -----.-.

Remarks

Light.

A slope-area measurement of the peak discharge above Horse Creek 

Reservoir was made in sec. 12, T. 21 S., R. 42 W, regarding which 

Hinderlider's report 66 states:

M Freeman, W. B., Flood in the Arkansas Valley, Colo., October 1908: U. S. Qeol. Survey WaterSupply Paper 247, p. 40,1910.

65 Hinderlider, M. C., Report of the Horse Creek flood of Aug. 28,1935, and the failure of the Horse Creek 

dam. Unpublished, in flies of Office of the State Engineer of Colorado.

66 Op. cit.
MAJOR FLOODS ARKANSAS RIVER 113

It appears that the peak of the flood entering Horse Creek Reservoir was substantially 16,500 to 20,000 second-feet, and that the total quantity of water resulting from the flood * * * amounted to about 7,500 acre-feet.

The drainage area from which the flood * * * came, as nearly as could 

be determined, is about 100 square miles, although the area over which occurred 

the greatest intensity of rainfall did not exceed about 50 square miles. It would, 

therefore, appear that the peak flow amounted to approximately 165 to 200 

[second-feet] from the area causing the flood, and over the more limited area to a 

maximum of approximately 360 [second-feet].

During the flood a slope-area measurement on the main stream 

below the reservoir and below a tributary determined a peak discharge of 22,000 second-feet, or 220 second-feet per square mile 

from the 100 square miles covered by the rainfall.

MINOR TRIBUTARIES OF ARKANSAS RIVER

The minor tributaries of the Arkansas River are not subject to 

prolonged floods, owing to the character of the rainfall and to the steep 

slopes; but they are subject to cloudburst floods of high intensity, 

particularly those tributaries east of the Royal Gorge. The series of 

cloudbursts causing the Arkansas River flood of June 1921 resulted 

in high run-off for many of those streams, as shown in the following 

table.67

Peak discharge of minor tributaries of Arkansas River, June 8, 1921 

{Streams listed in descending order. All measurements were made near the mouths of the tributaries]

Tributary

Chandler Creek _. _________ .....

Coal Creek..... ......................

Fred Rohr Gulch __ .... ____ ..... ....

Rock Creek.. __ ........................

Boggs Creek ________________

Blue Ribbon Creek _____________

Latitude

38°24' 

38°24' 

38°24' 

38°24' 

38°20' 

38°18' 

38°18' 

38°17' 

38°16' 

38°16' 

38°16' 

38°16' 

38°16' 

38°15' 

38°16' 

38°16'

Longitude

105°08' 

105°06' 

105°05' 

105°03' 

104°54' 

104°52' 

104°49' 

104°49' 

104°48' 

104°46' 

104°45' 

104°45' 

104°44' 

104°41' 

104°40' 

104°38'

Drainage 

area 

(square 

miles)

13.6 

22.3 

65 

21.9 

9.3 

19.6 

>48 

7.8 

7.3 

34.4 

59 

15.8 

26.5 

1.8 

6.7 

86

Peak discharge 

(second-feet)

Total

1,610 

3,720 

10,000 

5,320 

968 

4,670 

9,000 

9,060 

13,900 

19, 400 

53,900 

9,740 

15,400 

1,910 

9,130 

24,400

Per 

square 

mile

118 

167 

154 

243 

104 

238 

188 

1,160 

1,900 

564 

913 

619 

582 

1,060 

1,360 

283

i Turkey Creek Basin below Teller Reservoir; little or no water passed the dam during the period of maximum discharge of the creek.

" Follansbee, Robert, and Jones, E. E., The Arkansas River flood of June 3-5,1921: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Water-Supply Paper 487, p. 21,1922.
114 FLOODS IN COLORADO

BIO GBANDE

The Rio Grande drains the high mountain park known as the San 

Luis Valley which has an altitude between 7,400 and 7,800 feet. Its 

basin is bounded by the almost continuous ring of mountains that 

separate it from the Arkansas River Basin on the east and the Colorado 

River Basin on the north and west. From the mouth of South Fork 

Rio Grande to Del Norte, at the edge of the valley proper, the Rio 

Grande has an average fall of 17 feet per mile; from Del Norte to the 

Colorado-New Mexico State line the fall decreases from 17 to 7 feet 

per mile.

Gaging stations on the Rio Grande

Station

Drainage

area 

(square 

miles)

163

705

1,320

1,740

1,840

7,700

Period of record

June 1909 to date.

April 1907 to date.

July 18$9 to date.

May 1926 to date.

June 1899 to date.

The Rio Grande Basin, owing to its sheltered position and its 

relatively high altitude, is less subject to destructive floods than any 

other major basin in Colorado, except that of the Colorado River.

Of the five floods on the Rio Grande described on the following 

pages, all but one occurred during June, and perhaps also the earliest 

one of record, that of 1869, mentioned briefly below. All but one 

of the five were caused by runoff from melting snow augmented by 

rain. The one exception was the flood of June 1905, when practically no precipitation occurred. The flood of June 1884, caused 

primarily by the extraordinarily heavy snow cover, lasted much 

longer than the others, the river being at overflow stage at Del Norte 

from about May 24 to June 20, whereas in the other years it remained 

at flood stage for only a few days. The highest flood since gagingstation records have been kept was that of June 1927; but the flood 

of 1884, which occurred before any station had been established, 

may have been higher. The flood of 1927 was caused by a combination of all the factors usually contributing to floods in Colorado 

mountain streams heavy snow cover, precipitation in the form of 

snow, followed immediately by sudden increase in temperature, and 

rain during the period of maximum snow melting. The flood of 

October 1911, which was severe in only one locality, was caused solely 

by widespread heavy rains throughout southwestern Colorado.

The earliest flood of record on the Rio Grande occurred in 1869,
MAJOR FLOODS RIO GRANDE 115

probably during the late spring. The Alamosa Leader of October 

14, 1911, refers to that flood as follows:

In 1869 and 1884 the Rio Grande went on a rampage and flooded districts 

through which it flows. But old-timers of Alamosa who were here at that time 

and are still here, say that in 1884 the water came into the town, farther down in 

the business districts.

1884:

The next flood of record occurred during June 1884 and was caused 

by the melting of the very heavy snow cover, augmented by heavy 

rains. Although records of discharge are lacking, it is believed that 

the flood of 1884 was one of the most severe on the Rio Grande. 

From the files of the Del Norte San Juan Prospector it appears that 

the river started to rise at Del Norte about May 15 and rose 3 feet 

in 3 days. Within the next week it overflowed its banks and washed 

out the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad tracks in several places, 

presumably near Creede. The San Juan Prospector, May 31, 1884, 

stated that two bridges over the Rio Grande above South Fork had 

been destroyed by drift and that the river had overflowed its banks 

at Del Norte and inundated a large section of land below the railroad 

tracks. From about May 24 to June 20 the river was out of its 

banks at Del Norte ,and at the peak on June 14 and 15 the statement 

was made that the Rio Grande was higher than since 1872 [1869]? 

the entire bottom lands below town were from 1 inch to 2 feet under 

water, but that the water did not reach the main part of the town.

The Gunnison Review Press of June 26, 1884, stated that nearly 

every ranch in the river bottoms between Del Norte and Alamosa 

was flooded. At Alamosa the lower part of the town was flooded, 

the water reaching nearly to the railroad tracks. The Del Norte 

San Juan Prospector, June 21, 1884, reported:

Del Norte mails for the East have been sent out via Salida this week, owing to 

the heavy floods at Alamosa.

This statement probably refers to the flood below Alamosa where 

the river was about 5 miles wide. W. D. Carroll, State division iraigation engineer, stated that he believed the 1884 flood had a higher 

discharge than any subsequent flood. Sloughs that carried water in 

1884 have since been filled in, and the development of ditches and 

reservoirs has materially reduced the peaks of later floods. This 

belief that the 1884 flood was the highest, due to the high flow of all 

its tributaries, is strengthened by the statement of R. I. Meeker, 

consulting engineer of Denver, that local residents have told him that 

the only time since the San Luis Valley was settled, that water from 

the closed basin in its northern part reached the Rio Grande was In 

1884.
116 FLOODS IN COLORADO

1905

The first flood on the Rio Grande for which records of discharge are 

available occurred in June 1905, was evidently caused chiefly by 

melting snow, as the few available records show little precipitation 

during that flood. The Alamosa Courier of May 20, 1905, stated that 

the mountains had a heavy cover of snow which was melting rapidly. 

The only mention of the flood on the Rio Grande made by the Del 

Norte, Monte Vista, or Alamosa papers was a statement on June 10, 

1905, that the railroad bridge above Creede and about 800 feet of 

track had been washed out. It is evident.that below Creede, little 

overflow occurred. The only gaging stations for which records were 

obtained were near Del Norte and at Lobatos. The daily discharge 

at those stations was as follows:

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Rio Grande, June 1-15, 1905

June

1 

3 - - .

6 

8 

Near Del 

Norte

6,600

9,230

9,760

10,000

8,030

8,630

Lobatos

7,220

7,750

8,900

10, 600

11, 400

12,500

12, 700

13, 100

June

9 

10 

11 

12 - --

13 

14 

15 -

Near Del 

Norte

8,510

8,270

7,550

7,330

6,890

6,890

6,780

Lobatos

12,700

11,800

11,100

10, 100

8,380

8,170

1911

The storm of October 4-6, 1911, which was so severe in the San 

Juan Basin, also covered the San Luis Valley, but was much less 

severe here, where it followed a week of lighter rainfall. The available 

records of precipitation are as follows:

Rainfall, in inches, on Rio Grande Basin, Oct. 4~6, 1911

Altitude

(feet)

10,015

9,610

9,800

9,242

7,576

7,700

7,745

7,900

4

3.08

.71

.05

.59

.74

1.28

.40

October

5

1.26

1.94

3.25

1.42

.14

.15

1.20

1.50

6

0.49

.04

.70

.07

X U wll

4.83

2.65

3.34

2.01

.88

1.43

1.90

1.97

It is believed that in the upper part of the Rio Grande Basin, 

adjacent to the San Juan River Basin, the precipitation was considerably higher than that given.
MAJOR FLOODS RIO GRANDE 117

The flood of 1911 was the only one recorded in the Rio Grande 

Basin that was caused wholly by heavy rains. It was not severe 

except in the vicinity of Del Norte. The flood reached Del Norte 

during the night and the fire bell warned the sleeping citizens in the 

bottom lands of their peril. The Del Norte newspaper does not 

mention the depth of the water, which must have been considerable, 

as many people were taken from their homes in wagons, buggies, on 

horseback, and some by boats. From these means of transportation 

it is assumed that the water could not have been more than 2 or 3 

feet deep in the lower part of the town. The Del Norte San Juan 

Prospector of October 7, 1911, stated that the greatest damage, so far 

as known, occurred in the narrow valley from a point 20 miles west of 

Del Norte to a point 10 miles east, where the water spread into the 

ditches and sloughs in the San Juan Valley. At Monte Vista the overflow covered the low land between the main river channel and the 

higher ground on which the town is built, a distance of about two 

miles. At Alamosa the Independent Journal of October 13, 1911, 

stated that the peak stage was within a few inches of the highest mark 

ever recorded there. After the river had receded a few inches, the 

dike protecting the town broke, and a part of the town was flooded. 

Very little damage occured other than water-soaked foundations and 

washed-out fills under sidewalks, as only backwater from the flood 

reached these districts.

Below Alamosa, sloughs and channel storage so reduced the peak 

discharge at the Lobatos gaging station that no overflow or damage 

occurred. In the overflowed areas above Alamosa very little damage 

was done below Del Norte.

The following table shows the daily discharge at the Wason, Del 

Norte, and Lobatos stations.

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Rio Grande, Sept. 29 to Oct. 15, 1911

Date

Sept. 29

30

Oct. 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Wason

(drainage

area 70S

square

miles)

515

900

1,380

1,380

1,250

1,010

4,230

5,170

3,270

Del Norte

(drainage

area 1,320

square

miles)

720

810

2,190

2,420

1,910

1,580

' 10, 700

14,000

6,370

Lobatos

(drainage

area 7,"700

square

miles) i

950

1,050

1,200

2,000

2,670

2,810

2,880

4,230

6,980

Date

Oct. 8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

W ason

(drainage

area 705

square

miles)

2,430

1,840

1,580

1,430

1,290

1,160

1,090

1,010

Del Norte

(drainage

area 1,320

square

miles)

4,540

3,580

2,900

2,730

2,260

1,980

1,710

1,580

Lobatos

(drainage

area 7,700

square

miles) i

6,890

6,890

7,510

6,800

5,750

4,710

3,850

3,250

1 Includes 2,940 square miles in closed basin in northern part of San Luis Valley. 

»Peak discharge 18,000 second-feet.
118 FLOODS IN COLORADO

1921

The flood of June 1921 was probably the smallest of the Rio Grande 

floods described here. The general storm that caused severe floods 

in the Arkansas and South Platte River Basins released precipitation 

in the San Luis Valley from June 3 to 7, but this was insufficient 

to cause a flood. The primary cause of the flood was an increase 

in temperature of nearly 20° between June 6 and 10 as recorded at 

the Garnett station, which hastened the melting of the mountain 

snow. The runoff from the melting snow was probably augmented 

by light precipitation between June 11 and 15. As all mountain 

tributaries were at high stages during this period, the flood increased 

in volume throughout the valley with the contribution of each tributary. Very little overflow occurred except in Alamosa and immediately downstream, where the river was about 2 miles wide. Several 

bridges above Alamosa were destroyed, chiefly by drift.

The following table shows the daily discharge at gaging stations 

on the Rio Grande.

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Rio Grande, June 8 23, 1921 

[Data from reports of Colorado State Engineer]

June

S. ..............................

9...............................

10. ...... ........................

11. .......................... ....

12...............................

13. ......................... .....

U.. ........................ .....

1&. ..............................

16. ............................ ..

17...............................

IS.. .............. ...............

19.. ........................ .....

20.. ..-_._ .-_ . 

21...............................

22...............................

23. ..............................

Thirtymile 

Bridge (drainage area 

163 square 

miles)

1,200

1,690

2,350

2,780

3,430

3,470

3,310

3,170

2,860

2,520

1,970

1,430

934

837

997

1,200

Wason 

(drainage area 

705 square 

miles)

3,760

4,850

6,390

7,240

7,820

8,340

8,080

7,570

6,920

6,600

5,650

4,770

3,580

3,130

3,000

3,130

Del Norte 

(drainage area 

1,320 square 

miles)

5,940

6,880

8,250

8,930

9,380

9,630

9,380

9,290

9,010

8,440

7,440

6,260

5,120

4,500

4,310

4,650

Alamosa 

(drainage area 

1,710 square 

miles)

4,840

4,920

5,400

6,040

6,500

7,200

8,000

9,000

9,500

9,800

10,000

9,200

8,800

8,200

7,000

5,800

Lobatos 

(drainage area 

7,700 square 

miles i

5,530

6,300

6,870

7,400

8,050

8,860

10,300

11,500

12,200

11,800

11,300

10,500

9,220

8,240

7,020

5,790

1 Includes 2,940 square miles in closed basin in northern part of San Luis Valley.

1927

The flood in the Rio Grande Basin during the later part of June 

1927 was the highest of record for that area, except in the vicinity
MAJOR FLOODS RIO GRANDE 119

of Del Norte, where the flood of October 1911 was higher. The 

flood of 1927 was caused by runoff from the melting mountain snow, 

increased by precipitation. From June 11 to 16, snow fell at the 

higher altitudes, and the temperature dropped. This drop was 

followed by a rise of 20° or more in 3 days (Garnett record), which 

softened the snow. Beginning June 25 and continuing for 5 days, 

additional precipitation fell in the form of rain, accompanied by a 

further increase of several degrees in temperature. The combination 

of these factors caused the flood.

The rainfall at precipitation stations in this area, June 26-29, 

1927, is shown in the table below.

Precipitation, in inches, in Rio Grande Basin, June 26 29, 1927

Cumbres

La Veta Pass

Del Norte- _------.---.- _ ..-....._....._

Garnett

Manassa

Altitude

(feet)

10, 015

8,912

9,242

7,868

7,700

26

0.16

.68

.12

.05

.10

Ju

27

0.18

1.04

.10

ne

28

0.07

1.06

.28

.40

.05

29

0.36

.60

*;9

Total

0.41

3.14

1.00

.55

.62

.32

Of this flood, the San Juan Prospector, July 1, 1927, stated:

Recent heavy rains on the continental divide have swollen all the mountain 

streams that form the headwaters of the Rio Grande, until the main river is a 

raging torrent, overflowing its banks and causing great damage and loss of property through the valley. * * * The railroad yards in Del Norte are under 

water. * * * Part of the resident section on the north side of Del Norte is 

already under water and a channel has been opened through the highway to 

prevent the entire north side of town being flooded. Dairy herds have been 

driven out of valley pastures by the flood. * * * The Wason Bridge below 

town was taken out.

At Monte Vista the river overflowed its south bank for a width of 

1% miles, and near the Soldiers' Home, east of Monte Vista, the 

overflow was a mile wide.

At Alamosa, although the flood of 1927 was the highest recorded, 

very little overflow occurred, as the dikes protecting the city had been 

built higher and the channel improved since the flood of 1921.

The following table shows the daily discharge at the various gaging 

stations during the flood of 1927.
120 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Rio Grande, June 26 to July 7, 1927 

[Data from reports of Colorado State Engineer]

Date

June 26. ___________ .

June 29... __ _____ ......

Julyl ._-..__...........

July 2........... ..............

July 3 - .-__._.-_.- _

July 4.........................

Julys.........................

July 6 . 

July 7 ......................

Thirtymile 

Bridge 

(drainage 

area 163 

square 

miles)

791

1,020

> 2, 870

5,720

3,820

2,840

2,380

2,110

1,810

1,740

1,710

876

Wason 

(drainage 

area 705 

square 

miles)

1,710

2,970

» 5, 820

8,620

8,270

6,840

5,440

4,300

3,400

2,860

2,590

2,060

Del Norte 

(drainage 

area 1,320 

square 

miles)

2,650

3,030

5,940

* 12, 200

12,600

9,750

6,980

5,860

5,100

4,500

4,080

3,730

Monte 

Vista 

(drainage 

area 1,590 

square 

miles)

857

1,080

2,610

5,780

« 12, 500

8,500

6,580

5,370

4,460

3,790

3,360

2,840

Alamosa 

(drainage 

area 1,710 

square 

miles)

734

705

988

2,250

5,320

 10, 600

7,240

5,560

4,600

4,000

3,350

2,630

Lobatos 

(drainage 

area 7,700 

square 

miles)*

1,570

1,540

1,420

2,130

4,070

5,950

7,870

'9,580

8,100

6,480

5,170

4,390

i Includes 2,940 square miles in closed basin in 

northern part of San Luis Valley. 

> Peak discharge 7,500 second-feet. 

» Peak discharge 9,750 second-feet.

* Peak discharge 15,000 second-feet.

 Peak discharge 18,600 second-feet. 

' Peak discharge 14,000 second-feet. 

i Peak discharge 9,800 second-feet.

SOUTH FORK RIO GRANDE

The drainage basin of South Fork Rio Grande is a part of the 

northern slope of the ring of mountains surrounding the Rio Grande 

Basin in Colorado. The South Fork rises close to the Continental 

Divide at an altitude of about 12,000 feet and flows with heavy fall 

through canyons and narrow valleys to its junction with the Rio 

Grande at the town of South Fork, where the altitude is 8,100 feet. 

For a distance of 7 miles above the mouth the fall is about 41 feet 

per mile.

A gaging station near the mouth was maintained from August 1910 

to September 1922, and from May 1936, to date. The drainage area 

is 216 square miles.

The highest flood of record on South Fork Rio Grande was that of 

October 5, 1911. It destroyed four bridges, including the Denver 

& Rio Grande Railroad bridge near the mouth. The gage was 

destroyed, but during subsequent investigation it was learned from a 

local resident that the river began to rise about 7 a. m. October 5, 

and rose at a rate of about 1 foot per hour, overflowing its banks 

about 11 a. m. It stayed at the highest stage until about 2:30 p. m., 

then started to fall, and at 7 p. m. was again within its banks. From 

high-water marks the peak discharge was estimated to be about 

8,000 second-feet.

The flood of June 29, 1927, the highest subsequent to that of 1911, 

reached a stage about 1 foot lower than the flood of 1911, but no 

estimate of the discharge is available.
MAJOR FLOODS RIO GRANDE 121

AJLAMOSA CREEK

Alamosa Creek is one of the two streams that drain the eastern 

slope of that part of the San Juan Mountains which forms the southwestern boundary of San Luis Valley. The creek rises near the Continental Divide at an altitude of 12,000 feet, flows through canyons 

and narrow valleys until it emerges in the San Luis Valley, crosses 

that gently sloping valley, and enters the Rio Grande about 10 miles 

below Alamosa. From a point 7 miles above the upper gaging station 

to the point where the creek emerges from the foothills the average 

-fall is 68 feet per mile, and across the valley, a distance of 30 miles, 

the fall is 13 feet per mile.

Gaging stations on Alamosa Creek

Station

Drainage 

area (square 

ui iles)

107

116

Period of record

September 1911 to June 1912; April 1914 to October 1919;

October 1923 to September 1927; October 1934 to date.

ary 1917 to October 1920; April 1922 to date.

The only flood prior to 1909 for which information is available 

was that of June 1905, concerning which the Monte Vista Journal, in 

itsjissue of June 10, stated:

Transportation of machinery up the Alamosa River has been stopped temporarily by the tremendous volume of water rushing down the river, which is far out 

of its banks and licking at the very base of the mountains. Every grade near the 

river, from just below Stunner down to where the road from Monte Vista enters 

the canyon, has been entirely washed away.

During the period covered by the gaging-station records only one 

severe flood has occurred, that of October 5, 1911. The short duration 

of this flood, the peak of which reached a stage of 11 feet at the upper 

station, is shown by the discharge during the week of the flood, and 

the influence of the reservoir on the flow at the lower station a short 

distance below the reservoir.

Discharge, in second-feet, of Alamosa Creek, Oct. 4~10, 1911

October

e ration

4

142

530

5

4,250

1,085

6

710

1,310

7

555

1.165

8

400

810

9

245

510

10

210

252
122 FLOODS IN COLORADO

J. E. Field, engineer for the Terrace Reservoir, measured the peak 

of this flood at a diversion dam 8 miles above the reservoir. This was 

an overflow dam, and by considering it as a weir the peak discharge 

was computed at 5,200 second-feet.

CCHSTEJOS RIVER

The Conejos River is one of the two streams that drain the eastern 

slope of that part of the San Juan Mountains which forms the southwestern boundary of San Luis Valley. The river rises near the Continental Divide at an altitude of 12,000 feet and flows through canyons 

and narrow valleys until it emerges in the San Luis Valley near Mogote, 

whence it flows 33 miles to its junction with the Rio Grande, about 

18 miles south of Alamosa. For a distance of 10 miles above Mogote 

the average fall is 38 feet per mile, and from Mogote to the mouth it 

is about 17 feet per mile.

Gaging stations on Conejos River

Station

Platoro ....

Near Moeote ... ......

Drainage 

area (square 

miles)

44.4 

282 

887

Period of record

April 1937 to date. 

September 1899 to March 1900; 

March 1921 to date.

April 1903 to date.

The only serious flood on this stream since 1899, when the first gaging station was established, occurred in 1911, and it seems safe to say 

that this was the only one since 1884, when severe floods were general 

in the Rio Grande Basin. There was a minor flood in 1905, concerning 

which the Del Norte San Juan Prospector of June 10, 1905, states 

that the stage then reached by the Conejos River was higher than had 

been known in. 20 years. This reference to a high stage 20 years 

earlier is evidently to the flood of 1884. The discharge in June 1905 

was only about 4,000-second-feet.

The flood of October 5-6, 1911, was caused by general rains. No 

gaging-station record exists, as the flood destroyed the station near 

Mogote, which was then the only one on the Conejos River. The 

local newspapers reported that the Twelvemile Bridge was swept 

away, the town of Guadalupe was under a foot of water, several 

hundred feet of railroad track was carried off the TJadbed, and the 

head gates of irrigation ditches were destroyed. In 1939 the Geological Survey made an investigation and found an approximate highwater mark, which was verified by two well-qualified witnesses. 

This mark had an elevation of about 8.5 feet, based on the gage 

datum established in 1912. From the extension of the rating curve 

based on high-water measurements made since 1912, the peak dis-
MAJOR FLOODS COLORADO RIVER 123

charge was estimated at about 9,000 second-feet from 282 square 

miles of drainage area. The only additional information available 

is that, although the flood was not of the cloudburst type, it was of 

short duration.

COLORADO RIVER

The Colorado Kiver rises in Middle Park, its source being on the 

east slope of Mount Richtofen, which has a height of 13,000 feet on 

the Continental Divide. Throughout most of its course in Colorado 

the river flows through canyons and narrow valleys. Near Palisade 

it enters Grand Valley, across which it flows to the Colorado-Utah 

State line.

Since records were started at Grand Junction in 1897, the Colorado 

River in Colorado has not been subject to flood, as that term is 

generally understood. The rainfall is too scanty to affect the river 

materially, and the high water that occurs annually due to melting 

mountain snow in May and June is characterized by a gradual rise 

and fall, depending on the amount of snow and the temperature. 

The tributary drainage basins above Roaring Fork, likewise, are not 

subject to severe or flash floods. Cloudbursts sometimes occur in 

this area, but the resulting floods do not have as high rates of runoff 

as similar floods at lower altitudes.

1853

The earliest noted reference to high water on the Colorado River 

is contained in a journal kept by George H. Heap, who accompanied 

Edward F. Beale on a trip from Westport to California in the spring 

of 1853. 68 Heap wrote:

June 23. We * * * continued down its right bank [Gunnison River] 

until we reached Grand iColorado] River. We had been prepared to find Grand 

River swollen, for its tributaries were all at their highest stage of water; but we 

had not anticipated so mighty a stream. It flowed with a loud and mighty 

current, its amber-colored water roaring sullenly past, laden with the wrecks of 

trees uprooted by their fury.

* * * Where we now stood, anxiously gazing at its flood it had spread to 

a breadth of 250 yards. [This point was above the mouth of the Gunnison, 

where the present width of the channel is about the same.]

June 25. * * * The river still maintained the same level, and the bottom 

land was overflowed and marshy. * * * Archilete [Indian guide] stated 

that he had never seen the river so high, and that it was owing to the unusual 

quantity of snow that had fallen in the mountains during last winter.

July 18. * * * On reaching the stream [Colorado] we found it had fallen 

about 6 feet [from the stage of June 23-25].

The significant fact in the foregoing quotation is the statement

" Bonsai, Stephen, Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a pioneer in the path of empire, 1822-1903: G. P. Putnam's 

Sons, 1912.
124 FLOODS IN COLORADO

that the river was "laden with the wrecks of trees." This indicates 

a very high stage of the river, as only an unusual flood would undermine the trees along the banks.

1884

The first flood on the Colorado River of which definite knowledge 

is available occurred during June and July 1884 and was caused by 

the melting of the very heavy snow cover.

The only stream in the State for which a record of flow was made 

during 1884 is the Cache la Poudre Eiver, which rises on the eastern 

slope of the Continental Divide just east of the Colorado Eiver Basin. 

A comparison between the discharge of the Cache la Poudre River 

during 1884 and its discharge during a normal year 69 indicates that 

this river likewise had its highest recorded total runoff in 1884 far 

above the average. As the Cache la Poudre rises so close to the 

headwaters of the Colorado, the regime of the two rivers must have 

been about the same. If this assumption is correct, the upper Colorado River started to rise about May 10, after a backward spring, 

reached a peak stage about May 20, then receded, owing probably 

to a drop in temperature, rose again about May 28, receded again, 

then began its principal rise about June 1. This rise continued until 

June 14, when another drop in temperature caused the river to fall 

for about 10 days. On June 23 it began its final rise, which culminated 

about June 28 in its peak stage and discharge. After that the stage 

dropped rapidly. The date of the peak on the upper part of the river 

is consistent with that of the peak on the lower part in Colorado, 

which was July 4, as recorded by the Weather Bureau at the Fruita 

gaging station. The behavior of the Colorado River was similar to 

that of the Gunnison River, also.

The tributary streams likewise were very high, and as a result 

the few small bridges spanning the Colorado River and Roaring Fork 

were destroyed, as were the head gates of all ditches in Grand Valley 

except the Grand River ditch.70 No mention of the river overflowing 

its banks has been cited, however, and at Grand Junction the statement was made that it did not overflow.

Relative to the flood on the lower Colorado River, the Greeley 

Tribune of June 25, 1884, published a dispatch from Salt Lake City, 

dated June 18, which reported:

A private letter reached here from Rioville, Lincoln County, Nev., tells of the 

tremendous destruction hereabouts by floods. * * *

The Colorado is now 6 feet above its former highwater marks, above all the 

bridge approaches and tow paths the white man has ever had in this region.

« Follansbee, Robert, Upper Colorado River and its utilization: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 

617, p. 152, 1929. 

"> Gunnison Review Press, May 11,1884.
MAJOR FLOODS COLORADO RIVER 125

Vast amounts of wreckage of railroad bridges, fences and wagons, and boats 

drifting down indicate the terrible loss and destruction on the upper tributaries 

of the river.

This letter was written two weeks or more before the river reached 

its peak.

The Weather Bureau located the high-water mark left by the 

peak stage of 1884 at Fruita, and in 1917 the Geological Survey by connecting this mark with the gage then being maintained, found its 

elevation to be 18.5 feet, as based on the gage datum. By running a 

line of levels across the area flooded in 1884 and extending the rating 

curve, the peak discharge was determined to be 125,000 second-feet.71

The year of highest June run-off during the period of discharge 

records was 1921. The large run-off was influenced to some extent 

by the heavy precipitation that occurred during two periods, June 

3-9 and 14-15. This unusual precipitation was the result of the 

general storm that caused floods also in the Arkansas River and South 

Platte River Basins. The recorded precipitation in the main Colorado 

River Basin is shown in the following table.

Precipitation, in inches, in Colorado River Basin, June 4~9, 14-15,

Flebbe Ranch _ _ __ _ ._-.--....

Nast. ................ .__.__.._____

Rifle.. -----._---..___--... ......

Palisades ... _ ...... ............

Grand Junction. . ....--._.....-....

Alti-

(feet)

8,671

6,120

8,800

5, 310

4,729

4,602 

4,590

4

0.17

Tr.

Tr.

.15

Tr.

.69

.16

.03 

.06

5

0.08

Tr.

.31

.61

.35

.30

.11

.06

.05 

.12

6

0.41

.23

.56

.40

1.34

.85

.26

.23

.30 

Tr.

Ju

7

0.27

.30

.19

.30

.12

.08

.46

.29

.01 

.41

ne

8

0.02

Tr.

.06 

Tr.

9

Tr.

0.23

.15

.42

.02

.17

"."06

14

0.07

.30

.10

Tr.

.98

.15

.11

.64

.12 

.05

15

0.06

.54

.70

.57

.69

.18

.06 

.16

Total

1.08

1.35

2.08

3,63

2.37

1.45

1.75

1.73

.63 

.86

It is probable 'that at the higher altitudes the precipitation June 

4-9 was chiefly in the form of snow. Beginning June 10 the temperature increased rapidly, and the precipitation after this date was 

probably rain. This later precipitation hastened the melting of the 

snow, which resulted in a higher discharge of the river. As even 

higher discharges have occurred at Glenwood Springs and nearly as 

high at Fruita when there has been little or no precipitation, it is 

probable that precipitation played only a minor part in causing the 

high water of 1921.

The following table shows the"daily discharge of the Colorado River 

between the mouth of Roaring Fork and Fruita, near the ColoradoUtah State line.

71 Follansbee, Robert, Upper Colorado River and its utilization: U. S. Geol. Survey[Water-Supply Paper 

617, p. 151, 1929.

755376 47 9
126 FLOODS IN COLORADO

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Colorado River, May 26 to June 25, 1921

Date

May 26-.

27_ .

28. _

29..

30..

31..

June 1...

2.-.

3-._

4__

5..

6-.

7...

8...

9...

10..

Below Roaring Fork

(drainage

area 6,020

square miles)

18, 600

18,000

20, 500

23, 500

27, 100

2S, 600

28,600

28, 300

28, 100

26,800

28, 300

29,900

31,900

30, 300

32, 100

35, 300

Near Palisade (drainage area

8,790 square

miles)

23, 300

23, 800

25, 000

28,400

32, 200

34, 000

34, 600

34, 000

33, 100

32, 500

32, 500

34,300

40, 200

38, 200

37, 000

41,900

Near Fruita

(drainage

area 17,100

square

miles)

38, 600

35, 800

37, 600

45, 200

53, 100

56, 100

57, 100

55. 100

53, 100

53,100

51,100

55, 100

62, 100

63, 100

61, 100

67,100

Date

June 11..

12. _

13..

14_-

'15--

16-.

17..

18..

19--

20-.

21.

22

23..

24..

25..

Below Roaring Fork

(drainage

aiea 6,020

square miles)

37, 100

40. 000

41, 500

43, 300

43, 700

44, 400

38, 100

30, 500

26, 000

22,400

18,900

17,400

18,500

18,200

18, 100

Near Palisade (drainage area

8,790 square

miles)

44, 400

46,200

47, 700

45, 800

48, 800

50, 800

43, 600

37, 600

31, 600

26, 800

22,600

20, 500

21, 400

20, 500

19,900

Near Fruita

(drainage

area 17,100

square

miles)

69, 100

71, 100

75, 100

73, 100

77,100

81, 100

72, 100

61,100

53, 100

46. 100

39. 50(

35, 800

34, 000

35. 800

34. 000

GTJNNISON RIVER

The Gunnison River, the principal tributary of the Colorado River 

in Colorado, drains some of the most rugged country in the entire 

Colorado River Basin. The headwater streams rise at an altitude of 

about 12,000 feet. The Gunnison, formed by the confluence of the 

Taylor and East Rivers at Almont, flows through narrow valleys and 

deep canyons throughout its course and joins the Colorado River at 

Grand Junction.

Owing chiefly to the high altitude of most of the basin the Gunnison 

River, like the Colorado itself, is not subject to heavy floods. Cloudbursts rarely occur on tributary streams, except in the Uncompahgre 

River Basin.

The earliest available reference to high water on the Gunnison 

River is that of 1884. About May 15, Delta reported temperatures 

of 70° to 80° in the shade, with warm nights. This warm weather, 

evidently the first of the season (the Gunnison paper, May 8, stated 

that the spring was a month late), caused the Gunnison to rise and 

overflow the lowlands near Delta. The river continued to rise, 

augumented by heavy rain, until about June 17, when it was reported 

to be falling rapidly, evidently because of a drop in temperature. 

The drop was only temporary, however, for a few days later the river 

was reported to be rising again, and about July 2 reached its peak. 

Four days later it was falling rapidly.

On June 4 a Denver & Rio Grande train in the Black Canyon had 

passed through 3 feet of water, which extinguished the fire in the 

locomotive; after that, railroad service was discontinued until the 

high water subsided, in July. It had already destroyed several 

bridges crossing the lower river, including four wooden structures 

along the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. One of these, near Esca-
MAJOR FLOODS COLORADO RIVER 127

lante, collapsed just as a passenger train reached it; the engine and 

two cars went into the river, and several lives were lost. At Delta 

the Gunnison River rose at least 10 feet above bank-full stage and 

overflowed an area nearly three-quarters of a mile wide. As the 

banks were covered with trees and underbrush, the overflow was 

retarded somewhat, and this retardation was aided by a narrowing of 

the valley a short distance below Delta to form a canyon, through which 

the Gunnison River flows nearly to its mouth. The water in the 

canyon did not reach the tracks of the railroad, which are not more 

than 15 feet above low water.72

The peak discharge of the Gunnison River has been estimated by 

comparing it with the peak discharge of the Colorado River at Fruita, 

which occurred at nearly the same time, July 4. Gaging-station 

records show that during 5 other years, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, and 

1923, and maximums on the two streams have occurred at practically 

the same time. In determining these relations it is necessary to 

use maximum daily discharges, as the records are based on two or 

more daily gage heights and do not represent the peak discharges. 

However, an examination of the relation between the peak discharge 

and dail.y discharge on the Colorado River near Cisco, a short distance below Fruita, for the high-water years since the installation 

of the water-stage recorder in 1923, and the relation between the peak 

discharge and daily discharge of the Gunnison River since the installation of the water-stage recorder in 1934, shows that the mean daily 

discharge for each stream is within a few percent of the peak discharge during high water. Therefore it is evident that the relation 

between the daily discharges applies to the peak discharges also.

Relation of maximum daily discharge, in second-feet, of the Gunnison River to that

of the Colorado River

Year

1917

1918 - 

1920 

Gunnison 

River

16,900

35, 200

Colorado 

River

56, 200

77,100

Percentage

30

46

Year

1923,... ........

Gunnison 

River

Colorado 

River

Percentage

37

36

The average of these is 38 percent. The peak discharge of the 

Colorado River in 1884 was 125,000 second-feet, and by taking 38 

percent of this, the peak discharge of the Gunnison River during 

1884 was estimated to be about 50,000 second-feet. The highest 

peak discharge of record was 35,200 second-feet, May 23, 1920.

High water on the Gunnison River during the period of record has 

been due almost entirely to the melting of the snow cover, which is

Follansbee, Robert, op. cit., p. 151.
128 FLOODS IN COLORADO

influenced by temperature. The highest discharge since gagingstation records were started in 1896 occurred in 1920. The daily 

discharges, as recorded at Gunnison and Grand Junction, May 16 to 

June 10, 1920, are shown in the following table.

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Gunnison River, May 16 to June 10, 1920

Date

May 17. ... .... ... .

May 20 ________ .

May 22_ __ ..........

Mav24 _ ... _ ......

May 25.-.------.-...

May 26.-.... .... ..

May 27 ... ... ... ...

May 28... .-- 

Near Gunnison (drainage 

area 1,010 

sq. mi.)

1,840

2,340

2,780

3,720

4,750

5,080

5,220

4,930

5,510

5,860

6,960

6,670

6,090

Near Grand 

Junction 

(drainage 

area 8,020 

sq. mi.)

12,600

13.300

15, 6CO

20.00C

23,400

26,200

31, 500

35,200

30, 100

30, 10C

31,500

30,500

27,700

Date

May 29 ...............

May 30. _ ...........

May 31...- ..........

June 2......... _ ....

Near Gunnison (drainage 

area 1,010 

sq. mi.)

6,240

6,380

7,480

6,820

6,730

6,520

6,520

6,380

6,820

7,100

6,820

6,240

Near Grand 

Junction 

drainage 

area 8,020 

sq. mi.)

27.400

27,400

27, 400

25,500

23,400

21, 400

20,400

20, 000

20,700

21, 400

21, 400

21, 400

UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER

The Uncompahgre River, a tributary of Gunnison River, rises on 

the north slope of the San Juan Mountain mass and flows north to its 

junction with the Gunnison at Delta. Although the basin is mountainous, its location on the western edge of the main Rocky Mountain 

uplift gives it, from the standpoint of flood occurrence, a position 

somewhat analogous to that of the eastern foothill region, especially 

in respect to rains during the summer months and cloudburst floods 

on the small tributaries. Floods on the main river are infrequent.

The earliest reference to a flood on the Uncompahgre River comes 

from the settlers who founded Delta in the early eighties. At that 

time, an Indian squaw, Chipeta, wife of the famous Ute Chief Ouray, 

stated that within her lifetime of [then] about 50 years, she had seen 

the Uncompahgre Valley at Delta "flooded from bluff to bluff." 73

The melting of the heavy snowfall of the winter of 1883-84 caused 

the highest flood known on the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers, in 

June 1884, and undoubtedly caused a similar flood on the Uncompahgre River. The only available reference to such a flood, however, is 

an item in the San Juan Prospector of May 17, 1884, which states 

that "Uncompahgre is rising rapidly and an overflow is feared,"

Like the Colorado River, the Uncompahgre River had its highest 

recorded June runoff in 1921, which was influenced to some extent by 

the precipitation, as was also the run-off of the Colorado River. The 

following table shows this precipitation.

73 FoIIansbee,Robert, op.cit.
MAJOR FLOODS COLORADO RIVER 129 

Precipitation, in inches, in Uncompahgre River Basin, June 4~~^t 14~1&> 1921

Delta.. _______ . ___ .. __ ..

Alti-

(feet)

8,750

4,965

4

0.89

.04

.04

5

0.03

.05

6

Tr.

.11

Ju

7

0.62

.83

.82

ne

8

0.03

9

Tr.

.13

.02

14

.04

.50

15

.29

.29

J. ULial

2.22

1.48

1.83

The following table shows the daily discharge of the Uncompahgre 

River at the various gaging stations.

Daily discharge, in second-feet, of Uncompahgre River, June 5-19, 1921

June

5 

6 .

8 .

9_ __

10--.~-

12-. .

Below 

Ouray 

(drainage 

area 76 

square 

miles)

563

504

626

750

1,120

1,280

1,360

1,280

Colona 

(drainage 

area 403 

square 

miles)

1,100

1,030

1,300

1,360

2,120

2,400

3,000

3,500

Montrose 

(drainage 

area 565 

square 

miles)

920

905

1,620

1,270

2,060

2,360

2,530

2,990

Delta 

(drainage 

area 1,110 

square 

miles)

329

910

1,420

1.820

1,970

2,300

June

13- .-

15 

16.- .

17- 

18_ 

Below 

Ouray 

(drainage 

area 76 

square 

miles)

1,250

1,330

1,550

1,120

914

770

563

Colona 

(drainage 

area 403 

square 

miles)

4,080

2,940

2,650

Montrose 

(drainage 

area 565 

square 

miles)

3,580

3,400

3,100

2,440

2,150

2,030

Near 

(drainage 

area 1,110 

square 

miles)

2,300

2,150

2,150

1,000

1,090

1,090

880

The influence of the combination of rain and melting snow on the 

discharge of the river is referred to by the Delta Independent, June 17, 

1921, which stated that the "heavy rains, added to the high water 

caused by the rapidly melting snow" had raised the Uncompahgre 

River to such an extent as to cause concern among the dwellers near 

the river. Considerable land along the river was inundated, and a 

number of highway bridges were destroyed. The Montrose Daily 

Press, June 15, 1921, stated that the crest at Montrose was 1 foot 

higher than had been recorded in previous years.

The only cloudburst flood in the Uncompahgre River Basin of which 

there is a record is that of July 20, 1923, on Skyrocket Gulch at Ouray. 

Skyrocket Gulch drains 1 square mile of the almost vertical walls of 

the mountains back of Ouray and enters the Uncompahgre River just 

above the gaging station, which is below Ouray. The hydrograph of 

the flood as made by the water-stage recorder shows that the flow of 

the river increased from 275 to about 2,300 second-feet in about 30 

minutes and fell almost as quickly. This increase of about 2,000 

second-feet in the flow of the river represents the flood on Skyrocket 

Gulch.

DOLORES RIVER

The drainage basin of the Dolores River lies west of the Uncompahgre Basin and north of the San Juan Basin, in the extreme western 

part of Colorado. The upper part of the basin lies on the western
130 FLOODS IN COLORADO

slope of the San Juan Mountains and is extremely rugged. The 

Dolores River rises on the southwestern slope of the San Juan Mountains at an altitude of 13,000 feet. Throughout much of its course, 

which is northwest to its junction with the Colorado River, the 

Dolores River flows through canyons cut in the high plateaus of that 

region. The only available record of flood discharge is that for the 

flood of 1911, made at the gaging station at Dolores, on the main river.

The heavy snows of the winter of 1883-84 caused the earliest known 

flood on the Dolores River. The San Juan Prospector in several 

issues in May 1884 stated that the lower Dolores River and San 

Miguel River were higher than ever known, every bridge was swept 

away, and many ranchers and stock growers were compelled to leave 

the valley for the mountainsides.

No other floods on Dolores River have been noted until the fall 

storms of 1909 caused severe floods in southwestern Colorado. Concerning the flood of September 1909, the Durango Democrat, September 8, 1909, stated that the Dolores River at Rico was a raging 

torrent and that half a mile of railroad track near Lizard Head had 

been washed out.

The flood of October 4-6, 1911, was much more severe. Although 

there was no record of the rainfall at Dolores during the storm that 

preceded this flood, the Weather Bureau observer, who later reported 

rainfall at that point, stated that by comparison with subsequent 

records he estimated that the precipitation during October 4-6 was 

8 to 10 inches. The resulting flood caused the greatest loss to the 

Rio Grande Southern Railroad; much of its track was entirely destroyed, and all of it was more or less damaged for a stretch of 35 

miles. Severe losses were also sustained by ranchers.74 The flood 

reached a stage of 10.2 feet on the gage at Dolores and an estimated 

peak discharge of about 10,000 second-feet. It caused the river to 

break through the railroad grade and flow down an old river channel, 

inundating a part of Dolores to a depth of 1 to 3 feet and washing 

out one span of the Fourth Street Bridge.75

WEST CEEEK

West Creek drains the western part of Unaweep Canyon, which 

cuts across the Uncompahgre Plateau and meets the Dolores River 

Canyon a short distance above Gateway. A cloudburst occurred in 

this area, July 16, 1940, principally on Fish Creek, which enters 

West Creek in sec. 1, T. 15 S., R. 103 W., about 10 miles above the 

mouth. The resulting flood on West Creek was stated by local 

residents to have been the highest in 40 years. A slope-area measure74 Russell, G. H., and Gray, G. A., Flood of October 1911 in the region of the San Jnan, San Miguel, and 

La Plata Mountains: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 309, p. 247, 1914. 

» Dolores Star, Oct. 6, 1911.
MAJOR FLOODS COLORADO RIVER 131

ment was made later on West Creek, in sec. 10, T. 15 S., R. 103 W., 

and the peak discharge found to be 11,700 second-feet, or 500 secondfeet from the 23 square miles of drainage area affected by the storm.

SAW MIGUEL RIVER

San Miguel River is the principal tributary of the Dolores River. 

From its source on the northwest slope of the San Juan Mountains 

to its junction with the Dolores River 6 miles below Bedrock its 

course is in a canyon. The only floods in the San Miguel River Basin 

for which definite information is available were those of September 

1909 and October 1911.

Severe rains on the headwaters of the San Miguel River on September 5, 1909, caused the failure of two small power reservoirs of the 

Telluride Power Co. on Lake Fork of the San Miguel. Middle 

Reservoir failed on September 5, and the sudden release of about 

700 acre-feet of water raised the surface of Trout Lake, 1% miles 

downstream, nearly 2 feet over the crest of the dam. This caused 

the failure of that dam also and the release of some 2,000 acre-feet 

of water. The State Engineer, who made an investigation of these 

failures, stated that the property damage caused by the flood was 

"appalling." 76 The Telluride Daily Journal, September 5, 1909, 

describing this flood, stated that the crest of the flood down the river 

varied from 20 to 45 feet above low water, depending on the width 

oi the channel. In its issue of September 7 the Journal said:

The scene along the [San Miguel] river Monday morning [Sept. 6] as the waters 

had partially receded forbids intelligent description. Wagon and railroad bridges 

and along trestles were crushed like clay pipes and entirely obliterated. The 

accumulated mass of water behind was described by eye witnesses as a solid wall 

20 to 30 feet in height.

Concerning the flood of October 5, 1911, the Telluride Daily 

Journal of that date wrote:

The continuous rains of the past week and a half saturated the soil of the 

watershed so that the fall of yesterday was all forced into the creeks and rivers. 

Reports from the river below Vance are to the effect that the water yesterday 

was but 4 inches lower than at the time the entire contents of Trout Lake were 

precipitated into the river by the giving away of the dam two years ago.

At Placerville the maximum 24-hour discharge of the San Miguel 

River was 1,540 second-feet, as reported by R. I. Meeker, consulting 

engineer, Denver, Colo.

A cloudburst flood July 27, 1914, on a tributary flowing through 

Telluride caused much damage. The Journal described this flood, 

as follows:

At 12:50 o'clock Monday afternoon [July 27], following on the heels of the

76 State Engineer of Colorado, 15th Bierm. Report, p. 113, 1911.
132 FLOODS IN COLORADO

hardest rainstorm ever experienced in the city, a river of mud, very conservatively 

estimated at between 8 and 10 feet in height, swept out of Hornet Creek Canyon 

just north of town * * * and swept everything in its path. The largest 

portion of 15 blocks of the north-central, central, and eastern residential section 

and including one of the most important business blocks * * * is * * * 

now buried under mud to a depth of from 4 to 10 feet.

A waterspout of unbelievable volume, resulting from a cloudburst near the 

top of the Sawtooth Range directly north of town was the source of the flood.

If this storm was caused by a true cloudburst, it is one of the rare 

instances noted in Colorado of such a storm occurring at an altitude 

of 12,000 feet or higher.

SAN JUAN RIVER

The San Juan River rises on the southern slope of the San Juan 

Mountains in southwestern Colorado and flows southwestward, 

crossing the Colorado-New Mexico State line near Arboles. Throughout its course in Colorado it is a typical mountain stream. Between 

the mouth of the West Fork and Pagosa Springs its fall decreases 

from 188 to 47 feet per mile; between Pagosa Springs and Arboles the 

average fall is 27 feet per mile.

Gaging stations on the San Juan River

Station

Drainage

area 

(square)

miles)

298

1,390

Period of record

The first flood known to the early settlers in the San Juan River 

Basin occurred in 1859. The Durango Evening Herald of October 

17, 1911, in an article dealing primarily with the devastating flood 

that had occurred about 12 days earlier, has this to say of the flood 

of 1859:

Dr. William Schumacher, the sheep inspector, ran across an interesting incident 

at Carracas [recently]. An old squaw, a member of the Talian tribe of the 

southern Utes, told him through an interpreter that when she was a small child 

her people had a camp on the site that is now occupied by the house of Manuel 

Baker at Carracas [near the mouth of the Piedra River]. One day they all left 

camp to gather pinon nuts and when they returned the tepees and everything 

they contained had washed away. To reach that far the floodwater must have 

been higher by 6 feet than it was during the flood of this year.

The late Colonel Stollsteimer used to tell a stcry that verifies the story of the 

Talian squaw. He said he was shearing sheep that year on one of his flats near 

what is now Carracas when the Indians came to him and insisted that he move 

to higher ground on account of the flood. Col. Stollsteimer said he moved 

although he really did not think it necessary * * *. The flood swept in a 

raging sea over the flat where he had camped.
MAJOR FLOODS COLORADO RIVER 133

An apparent inconsistency in these two accounts is the indicated 

time of year. Sheep shearing is done in the early spring, and pinon 

nuts are usually gathered in the fall. However, if it had been a hard 

winter with heavy snowfall, as the occurrence of the flood would 

indicate, it is entirely possible that the Indians, because of food 

shortage, would search in the early spring for pinon nuts that had 

been hoarded by rodents.

The melting snow cover during June 1884 caused floods in the San 

Juan River Basin, but the only available information concerning 

them refers to the Animas River (see p. 136).

The San Juan River Basin is rarely subject to floods. The annual 

high water due to the melting of the heavy snow cover which is 

characteristic of the San Juan Mountains keeps the river channels 

scoured out to the required capacity, and storms of sufficient intensity 

and extent to cause floods are rare. Two such storms have occurred 

since precipitation records were started at a few points in the early 

eighties. These were the storms of September 3-6, 1909, and October 

4-6, 1911. A third storm at the time of melting snow occurred 

June 26-29, 1927.

The storm of September 3-6, 1909, followed a month of greater 

than average precipitation, during which rain fell almost every day. 

The heavy rainfall of September 5 resulted in a flood that, in the 

lower basin in New Mexico, at least, was reported locally to be the 

greatest since the country had been settled. San Juan River and its 

tributaries were at very high stages, although information relative to 

peak crests and actual discharge is lacking. The Los Pinos overflowed its banks in many places. In New Mexico the flood was 

severe.

The rainfall during October 4-6, 1911, caused the highest flood of 

actual record in the San Juan River Basin and resulted in the loss of 

two lives in Pagosa Springs and a great amount of property damage. 

The Pagosa Springs New Era of October 6, 1911, reported:

The rains which started in this section Wednesday evening [Oct. 4] and kept 

up a steady downpour all night and well into Thursday afternoon brought not 

only death but hundreds of thousands of dollars * * * in financial losses to 

the people of southwestern Colorado. For there is not a low-lying piece of farm 

land along the numerous streams but is either totally destroyed or rendered unfit 

to produce crops until it is rehabilitated. * * * Added to those losses were 

the crops that were swept away, the roads and bridges destroyed, the railroad 

and milling property lost, the orchards destroyed, the residences and personal 

belongings lying in the sand.

In a Survey report written soon after the flood 77 it was stated that 

damage on the San Juan River probably far exceeded that on any of

77 Russell, Q. H., and Gray, G. A., Flood of October 1911 in the region of the San Juan, San Miguel, and 

La Plata Mountains: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 309, p. 248,1914.
134 FLOODS IN COLORADO

the other streams. Every highway bridge over the San Juan was destroyed. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad had 7 miles of track entirely destroyed between Navajo and Arboles, and about 17 miles so 

damaged that repairs were necessary. (See pi. 3.) Pagosa Springs, 

the largest Colorado town on the San Juan River, suffered very considerable damage as water 3 to 5 feet deep covered the low-lying land close 

to the river. Eighteen residences and other buildings, including the 

old electric light plant, were destroyed or washed away with much 

of their contents.

The first warning of the flood at Pagosa Springs was given at 5:30 

a. m., October 5, 1911, but some dwellers in the lowlands refused 

to believe that a great flood was approaching and did not remove 

their household effects. The river rose rapidly and about noon 

reached a peak stage of 17.8 feet, or 13 feet above normal. This 

stage was maintained for about 3 hours and then the flood receded, 

rapidly at first, then more gradually, probably returning to normal 

stage 3 or 4 days later. At Arboles, 35 miles downstream, the river 

rose about 17 feet above normal and reached the railroad station. 

The town, built on higher ground, escaped. The flood peak was 

reached at 5 p. m., October 5, indicating a rate of travel between 

Pagosa Springs and Arboles of 7 miles per hour.

As the gaging station was destroyed, no record of the peak discharge was obtained at that time. In 1939 an investigation was 

made, and from the cross section based on fairly well-defined highwater marks the peak discharge was estimated at 25,000 second-feet. 

At the beginning of the rise, which ocurred in about 6 hours, the 

discharge was less than 1,000 second-feet. The total flood discharge 

was about 50,000 acre-feet. During the investigation of the flood 

made in 1911,78 the peak discharge at Arboles was estimated at 40,000 

second-feet; at Shiprock, N. Mex., it was probably 150,000 second-feet.

Like the other streams in the San Juan River Basin, the Mancos 

River was in flood, reaching the highest stage known, and did considerable damage along its course. The Mancos Times Tribune of 

Ocotber 5, 1911, stated:

The raging torrent brought down quantities of driftwood, trees, logs, and 

everything in its course that was loose. This collected at varioiis points, causing 

the river to change its channel in many places with consequent damage. In 

town [Mancos] it cut in above the present post-office building, serkwsly threatening its safety, and took away a part of a warehouse.

The flood of 1911 on Los Pinos River inundated the land along the 

river at Bayfield for nearly a week beginning October 1. The peak 

occurred about noon on October 5. One house was washed away.

'8 Russell, G. H., and Gray, G. A., op. cit., p. 248.
MAJOR FLOODS COLORADO RIVER 135

The fair grounds were covered to a depth of 3K to 4 feet. During the 

flood of September 1909 the river did not overflow at Bayfield.

Heavy rains during the period June 26-30, 1927, at a time when 

warmer weather was melting the mountain snow, caused the second 

highest flood of record in the San Juan River Basin. Precipitation, 

probablv in the form of snow at the higher altitudes June 11-16, 

was followed by a rise in teniperatue of about 20', as shown by the 

Durango records. This caused rapid snow melting, and the heavy 

rains hastened the melting to such an extent as to cause the flood. 

The following table shows the precipitation for the period June 11-16, 

and for each day from June 26 to 29.

Precipitation, in inches, in the San Juan River Basin, June, 11-16, 26-29, 1927

Station

Mesa Verde Park __. _.._.._

Dulce, N". Mex_..________..____

Aztec, N". Mex ................

Altitude 

(feet)

9,650

9,230

6, 589

7,610

6, 930

6, 425

10, 015

6,767

5,590

11-16

2.30

.92

2.37

.60

1.08

.89

1.38

1.19

1.95

1.07

1.02

26

0.60

.51

.82

30

.36

.15

.05

.27

.13

.06

.51.

Ju

27

1.50

1.50

1.23

.74

1.00

.95

.90

1.13

1.25

.90

.18

.68

.10

.41

ne

28

2.50

2.00

2.50

1.64

2.20

2. 65

2.68

2.00

1.34

1.30

.07

1.15

.70

.67

29

0.15

.36

1.66

.43

.45

.21

.19

.02

.51

1.42

1.00

.21

Total 

26-30

4.75

3.86

5.90

3.42

4.23

4.35

4.15

3.47

2.66

2.98

.41

3.38

1.86

1.80

The light rainfall at Cumbres, at the pass on the extreme southeastern edge of the basin, and in New Mexico, indicates that the 

precipitation was much less in the eastern and southern parts of the 

basin..

No gaging station was in operation in the Colorado portion of the 

San Juan River Basin, but at the station on the San Juan River at 

Farming-ton, N. Mex., below the mouth of the Animas River, the 

flood was the greatest since that of October 1911, the peak discharge 

on June 29 being estimated at 68,000 second-feet.

Describing the flood at Pagosa Springs, the weekly Pagosa Journal, 

in its issue of July 1, 1927, stated:

The first of the week the San Juan Basin rivers experienced the highest waters 

in their history in June, and with the exception of October 1911, the highest ever 

known in the memory of the oldest inhabitant of this general section. The high 

water began to be noticeable on Tuesday evening "when it was seen that the San 

Juan was steadily rising to flood stage. At that time neither the Navajo nor the 

[Rio] Blanco showed a rise * * * above the ordinary spring rise, but the 

high waters of the San Juan, Piedra, Pine [Los Pinos], and Animas were taking 

on the proportions of a flood. Here in Pagosa Springs, bags of sand were used to
136 FLOODS IN COLORADO

barricade the high waters out of the park, which was inundated during the flood 

of 1911. The crest of the flood was reached at Pagosa Springs at 9 o'clock Wednesday morning [June 29] when water out of the San Juan ran in a small stream 

across the east approach of the San Juan Street bridge.

No mention of flood damage was made except that two bridges were 

destroyed below Pagosa Springs.

The low point in the bridge approach which was overflowed has a 

height of about 13 feet on the gage established in 1935. Assuming 

the peak to have reached a stage of 13.5 feet, the indicated discharge 

was about 16,000 second-feet. No estimate of the total discharge 

can be made.

At Bayfield, local residents stated that the Los Pinos River was 

nearly as high during the 1927 flood as during that of October 1911.

The Piedra River was also in flood. At the gaging station near 

Piedra, established in November 1939, a high-water mark of the 1927 

flood was connected with the present gage datum, and found to have 

an elevation of 15 feet and an indicated discharge of 14,000 second-feet.

ANIMAS RIVER

Animas River joins the San Juan River at Farmington, N. Mex. 

It rises on the south slopes of the San Juan Mountains at an altitude 

of about 12,000 feet and flows through canyons and narrow valleys to 

a point about 15 miles north of Durango, where it. enters the Animas 

Valley which extends nearly to Durango with an average width of a 

mile. Below Durango the valley closes in to a width of half a mile or 

less for a distance of 10 miles, then widens out in the stretch that 

extends to the State line. Above Silverton the river has an average 

fall of about 300 feet per mile; below Silverton it averages 100 feet 

per mile as far as the head of the Animas Valley, through which the 

fall is 16 feet per mile; between Durango and the Colorado-New 

Mexico State line the average fall is 22 feet per mile.

A gaging station lias been maintained on the Animas River at 

Durango since 1895, except for the period 1906-09.

The first known flood on the Animas River was that of June 1884. 

The Denver Republican of June 28, 1884, carried the following dispatch from Silverton:

The floods are still increasing and are causing great destruction in this vicinity. 

The bridge at the head of Reese Street, across Cement Creek, was carried out this 

evening, and the dwelling houses in that locality are seriously threatened with 

being swept away by the torrents. * * * The snow still lies at great depths 

on the mountains, and the worst is yet to come.

This was about the peak of the discharge, as shown by references to 

the flood of June 1884 on other streams, and no further reference to 

the Animas flood was made. The next issue of the Republican carried
MAJOR FLOODS COLORADO RIVER 137

a dispatch from Durango, dated June 28, which stated that the warm 

weather continued to melt the snow in the mountains and the Animas 

Canyon was "booming full."

The flood of September 6, 1909, is believed to have been more 

severe on the Animas River than on the San Juan River, as the 

recorded rainfall in the Animas River Basin was higher. The Durango 

Democrat of September 7, 1909, stated:

Jupiter Pluvius seemed anxious to vent his rage on La Plata County and 

vicinity sending down water rain is too mild in torrents, both in valleys and on 

hills. These helped to swell the creeks and they the rivers, which swept away 

crops, bridges, and everything in its wake. In Durango, people living in the 

lowlands along the river were compelled to move their belongings upon the hillsides. The smelter engine room and pump house were flooded. The tipple on 

which was a car loaded with coal was washed into the river. The railroad has 

suffered immense damage.

The Geological Survey in its account of this flood 79 stated that the 

greater part of the flood loss was sustained by the Denver & Rio Grande 

Railroad. Along the Animas River between Silverton and Durango 

many stretches of railroad track were washed out and others were 

covered with immense deposits of sediment. Traffic on that branch 

was suspended for about three weeks. The San Juan Water and 

Power Co. maintained at its Durango power plant a gage which 

showed a maximum stage of 8.5 feet between 4 and 6 a. m., September 6.80 From a rating curve based on a subsequent high-water 

measurement the peak discharge was found to be 15,000 secondrfeet.

The rainfall during the period October 4-6, 1911, caused the highest 

flood of actual record on the Animas River. The Durango Evening 

Herald, October 5 and 6, 1911, stated that conditions in the Animas 

River Valley were serious; parts of the valley were flooded to a depth 

of 3 to 6 feet, and many families were obliged to move to higher 

ground for safety. Animas Valley from Trimble Springs to Durango 

"resembled one big lake." There was a general destruction of crops, 

roads, and ditches. The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad tracks in 

the valley, both above and below Durango, were so seriously damaged 

that the Farmington line was out of commission for 50 days, and the 

Silverton line for 60 days. The damage in the Animas Canyon was 

augmented by rock slides. At Durango the entire flat between the 

railroad and the Main Avenue bridge was flooded, three bridges were 

destroyed, several houses swept away, and a new channel was cut in 

several places. From Main Avenue bridge the flood waters reached to 

the car barns and to the electric light plant.

In the original report of this flood 81 the crest was given as 13.6

" Freeman, W. B., and Bolster, R. H., Colorado River Basin: U. S. Qeol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 269, p. 188, 1911.

80 Freeman, W. B., and Bolster, B. H., Op. cit. p. 190.

81 Russell, G. H., and Gray, G. A., op. cit. p. 247.
138 FLOODS IN COLORADO

feet, but a recent investigation indicates that 13.6 feet referred to a 

point on an overflow channel some distance from the main channel. 

The present operator at the power plant, who was on duty during the 

1911 flood, states that although the river »was bank full it did not 

overflow at the gage which was located near the power house. The 

top of the bank is 11 feet above the gage datum, and this represents 

closely the crest of the flood. A recent study of all discharge measurements and of conditions at the station indicates that the corresponding 

discharge was 25,000 second-feet. When the river started to rise 

about 11 a. m. October 5, the discharge was 1,800 second-feet; 2% 

hours later the big rise came and continued until about 10 p. m., when 

the peak discharge was reached. This stage continued 2 or 3 hours, 

and then the water started to recede, rapidly at first, then more 

slowly. No further information relative to flood volume is available.

The only tributaiy of the Aniinas River for which information is 

available is Hermosa Creek, which enters the river above Durango, 

The Durango Evening Herald of October 6, 1911, stated that "the 

Hermosa became a raging torrent early in the day. The water surrounded the depot and washed over the track a distance of two or 

three blocks."

The flood of June 28-30, 1927, caused by the rainfall of June 26-29, 

was the second highest of record, for this area. The Durango Evening 

Herald, in its issues of June 29 and 30, 1927, stated that the Animas 

Valley for a distance of 15 miles above Durango was under water, and 

the river half a mile to a mile wide in places. In many sections only 

the tops of fences and trees were visible. The most serious damage 

occurred on the Silverton branch of the Denver & Rio Grancle Railroad, where more than 4 miles of track including one bridge, was 

washed out between Tacoma and Needleton and an unknown amount 

of track above. In Durango the river overflowed the south end of 

Animas Bridge to a depth of several inches, but no damage was 

reported beyond the loss of a footbridge at the power plant.

The record at the Durango gaging station showed a peak stage of 

9.65 feet, which represented a discharge of 20,000 second-feet. As 

this flood was the largest for which fairly complete records are available, the following table of bihourly stages and discharges is presented.
MAJOR FLOODS COLORADO RIVER 139

Bihourly stage, ^n feet, and discharge, in second-feet of Animas River at Durango, 

Colo., June 27 to July 1, 1927

Time

4 --.._ - -

fi . -.-_---

s

10.... ---------

4..-...-- ....------

10 ... .. . _ 

June

27

Gage 

height

3.90 

4.03 

4.21 

4.30 

4.50 

4.66 

4.70 

4.76 

4.85 

4.93 

5.01 

5.15

Discharge

2,100 

2,250 

2,480 

2,600 

2,900 

3,160 

3, 230 

3,340 

3,500 

3,660 

3,820 

4,120

3,100

6,150

28

Gage 

height

5.29 

5.42 

5.56 

5.85 

6.25 

6.93 

7.49 

7.92 

8.38 

8.66 

9.29 

9.65

Discharge

4,440 

4,750 

5,090 

5,850 

7,180 

9,610 

11,600 

13, 200 

15, 000 

16, 100 

18, 500 

20, 000

10, 940

21, 700

29

Gage 

height

9.6 

9.4 

9.3 

9.23 

9.00 

8.68 

8.44 

8.13 

7.84 

7.62 

7.48 

7.32

Discharge

19, 700 

19, 000 

18, 600 

18, 300 

17, 400 

16, 200 

15, 200 

14, 000 

12, 900 

12, 100 

11,600 

11, 000

15, 500

30, 700

i

30

Gage 

height

7.17 

7.00 

6.90 

6.79 

6.72 

6.61 

6.52 

6.38 

6.25 

6.16 

6.04 

5.95

Discharge

10, 500 

9,860 

9,500 

9, 100 

8,850 

8,460 

8, 130 

7,630 

7,180 

6, 860 

6,440 

6,140

8,220

16, 300

July 1

Gage 

height

5.84 

5. 75 

5.67 

5.62 

5.55 

5.49 

5.38 

5.30 

5.17 

5.07 

4.98 

4.94

Discharge

5,820 

5,580 

5,370 

5,240 

5, 060 

4,920 

4, 650 

4, 460 

4,160 

3,950 

3,760 

3,680

4,720

9, 360

IA PLATA BIVEB

The first recorded flood on the La Plata River occurred October 

6, 1904. It was caused by a storm originating near the ColoradoNew Mexico State line, and affected the river chiefly in New Mexico. 

An account of this flood at Pendleton, N. Mex., is published. 82

The first recorded flood in La Plata River Basin in Colorado 

occurred October 5, 1911, and is the highest known in that region, 

and probably the highest that has occurred throughout the length of 

this river. Supporting this statement is the fact that the bridge at 

Pendleton, N. Mex., which withstood the flood of 1904, was destroyed 

by the flood of 1911. This flood also covered the main street of Hesperus, Colo., to a depth of more than a foot. The recorded rainfall 

at Fort Lewis was 2.30 inches on October 5, and 0.58 inch on October 

6. No estimate of the peak discharge was made.

On August 24, 1927, local rains, probably of cloudburst intensity, 

in the basin of tributary streams between Hesperus and the gaging

82 Hinderlider, M. C., and assistants, Floods in the Denver district, in Murphy, E. C., and others, Destructive floods in the United States in 1904: U. S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 147, pp. 150-171,1905. 

Includes a paper entitled "La Plata River flood, Colorado," prepared from a report by Theo. Tobish, pp. 

169-171.
140 FLOODS IN COLORADO

station just below the Colorado-New Mexico State line, caused a 

flood which reached a peak of 4,750 second-feet at that station. 

This flood was of short duration, and the mean discharge for the day 

was only 965 eecond-feet. At the gaging station at Hesperus the 

discharge was only 13 second-feet.

SUMMARY OF MAXIMUM FLOOD DISCHARGES

The following table shows the recorded peak discharges of the floods 

described in this report. If several floods at the same place are 

described, the peak discharge of the highest flood only is given. The 

period of record at regular gaging stations is not shown, as at most 

stations the flood recorded as the greatest is the greatest in a much 

longer period than that covered by the gaging-station records. In 

figure 3 the peak discharge in second-feet per square mile for each 

place is plotted against the corresponding drainage area.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 997 PLATE 3

DAMAGE TO TRACKS OF DENVER & RIO GRANDE RAILROAD CAUSED BY FLOOD OF 

OCTOBER 1911 ON SAN JLAX RIVER NEAR PAGOSA JUNCTION.

SUMMARY OF MAXIMUM FLOOD DISCHARGES 141

755376 47 10
Summary of maximum flood discharges in Col

South Platte River Basin

No.

1 2

3

4

5

6a 

6b

7

8 

9 

lOa 

lOb 

11

12 

13

14

15 

16 

17

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24

Stream and place of determination

SOUTH PLATTE RIVER, MAIN STREAM

.do

MOUNTAIN TRIBUTARIES

. -do.. . .-----_-_ . _ .-

South Boulder Creek at Eldorado Springs....

Dixoii Qluch.. .- .-...... _ ------------

Missouri Canvoii near mouth .-... .........

Latitude

39°25' 

39°46'

40°25' 

40°17'

40°24'

40°58' 

40°58'

39°39'

39°40' 

39°40' 

39°41' 

39°40' 

39°44'

40°13' 

40°16'

40°41'

39°56' 

40°26' 

40°25'

40°25' 

40°25' 

40°25' 

40°26' 

40°29' 

40°29' 

40°27'

Longitude

105°10' 

105<W

104°34' 

103°48'

103°29'

102°15' 

102°15'

105°12'

105°17' 

105°17' 

105°12' 

105°12' 

105°19'

105°15' 

104°53'

105°17'

105°18' 

105°19' 

105°14'

105°13' 

105°16' 

105°15' 

105°13' 

105°13' 

105°12' 

105°12'

Drainage 

area [ 

(square 

miles)

2,550 

(400)

9,500 

(1, 800)

17, 700

(1, 900) 

20, 600

(50)

4.48 

.63 

5.7 

9.45 

392

226 

1,000

134

(20) 

(') 

301

(3) 

18.9 

2.15 

1.26 

40 

31 

2.4

Peak stage and discha

Date

June 7, 1921 

Sept. 10, 1933

June 7, 1921 

May 31,1935

June 11,19212

June 2, 1935 

June 16,1921

July 24, 1896 

Sept. 2, 1938

. do .---.

.....do. 

Aug. 1,1888

Mav 31,1894 

Sept. 3,1938

June 1, 1894

Sept. 2,1938 

July 31,1919 

Sept. 1,1938

July 7,1906 

Sept. 10,1938 

Sept. 1,1938 

.-.--do.. ...

June 15,1923 

Sept. 1,1938 

June 15, 1923

Stage 

(feet)

8.95 

10.98

8.5 

12

9.3

8.56

8.17

10.9

8.4 

5.8 

5.2 

9.0

8.1 

8.93

10

11.6 

9.5 

6.6

6.3

5.4

12 

10

7.5

D

(
SUMMARY OF MAXIMUM FLOOD DISCHARGES 143

> 

1

"I

!

I

1 S

J

'

}

>

> "g

+J»

aa

:"1

c.

5

1C 

r

S jl 3 3

: . o 2 2 v P*! -^ CO CO ° s s s

_ o e a .3 "^ ^ "~ "

P 1 -d S 2

1

£

1

I

C3

£

<P

I

CO

s

r4

«

C

> * s fe a ri y Co i i

^ <u O- ~

1 1 iiil I

 . E-^al t &.

h-

>

PH ?J "H £ cj o

; M g|S ^ ®

^.^EallJ |

e

o>

e

£

g

I

O 

llillilil^^il^F O MrHCOM CO

g

CO

§ " s" 1

-

i

ITc<-

^

i * 5

05

^

1

rf

ti

CO

. 1

c^

ssC3»

CN

'

o

ci ^

3

<^

- * . o* O t* o

'

to

o

^f

o

9

t>

5

r-l

£

M

0?

 O

3

w

pS

o

 s

C3

o

rf

.« S

I 1

S

00

o

IO

0

CO

o

\

*

5 n

>> s

H

"S PQ3

>> B

IM pj

5 H

3 73

S S

** 5

1 *

Q

1 64

J1

S .

^ 5§

1 rt 1

o X

1 "

OO

\

e

1

£

«

0

Q^

a

0

S

a 

a

O

>

6

s

CO

CM CMCC

TH ^t~ « CM CM

! I i i

If

- **-* 2SSW ^

1 !>O OOTjt W

' ' ' rH 2 rH

CM IO CM "^ i i "5 t

SCM'CM'CO c jj c gjc? J c

^ ^rt 'C 'C ;'C '::);§' ^

£5^S ; :S !

^s ^~.^-~

00£2§ ScOrnSSrH CM i

CO

S

CO "5 rH 

CO -^ OO

I

ill gttg

w

1 I

"c d

S'^ !

^ i

ogo

CO rH CM

~-^*-~-~^ rH rH

^ O "*l CO CM CM rH rH O OC

s§ss sssss ss

S

C5CN 

rHrH

OOO

-rococo rH t^. CM oa *o rH rCO-*CMrH CO-*CMCMCM * CO

C333OC73 CTaOO^O^O^ OO5

cocococo cococococo coco

i i i , : ^

I ^ § c?

i ^ c: S w w'

0 8 S * a? «i

"S M ^ oo "^ T!'- :::

S CO ^ C-l Oco" ^^

 5 co^^'+i =°_ ^ co"^^. " g

Q tr1 > g^s ,§6c3w «P

te TjTSSS "^OSSJ" "4"^

^0 oQ jj g o(S^«§ S^

xi ^tS q § «'S®*O OS

® S'cS-g^ ^^^§ §C

O OOo5 So:?1 ^1^ m ~

>> hhs" oscsWWii j2jr

o oo«S GSiijsS g^

CM WCOCOCO COCOWCOCO CO M-

°"co

O5 Oi O5

CO CO CO

j

£

tl

QJ

*

"3.>

2w

p, O n*

rO-C S

«& §

* * g1

> >M

CP CDjg

§ §S

55l

35JI5

« p «-, c

o -- sa

O2CO HcO < COW CO O CO

wS

r- T 

CN CN

O CO 

. .

CO O

>f § gfg g£

SS 88 I

O CO CO »^ O t^

oo oo o o

S§ oS O CNCO SrH g 

OO b. OC OO OO OC 00 OOO OO

a!

oe

jj jj

G 05 C3 O

S MM M CV I- ?«

i-, t-

<)<! <)<) <)

-Ill

rQ -3 3 5

§o°*

C3

AJ

« £

o 

I -o

SS

t- CE5 +*

_ o o *

CD *> -< 50 B S «> 9 3 2 £

« 1 3 1 ft '«-4H d .... g g o Fount Mo Te fo
Summary of maximum flood discharges in Colorado, 

Arkansas River Basin Continued

No.

55 

50

57 

58 

59 

60 

61

62

63 

64

65 

66a

06b 

67 

68 

69 

70 

71

Stream and place of determination

St. Charles River at Burnt Mill. ............

Purgatoire River at Ninemile Dam, near Hibbee, Colo. 

Purgatoire River at Highland Dam, near Las 

Animas, Colo. 

.. ...do.... ............ . ......._. ............

Latitude

38°22' 

38°03'

38°16' 

38°15' 

37°43' 

38°02' 

38°14'

38°08'

37°10' 

37°11'

37°45' 

37°55'

37°55' 

38°04' 

38°03' 

38°02' 

38°02' 

38°03'

Longitude

104°36' 

104°47'

104°28' 

104°23' 

105°00' 

104°25' 

104°15'

103°57'

104°30' 

104°07'

103°28' 

103°18'

103°18' 

103°10' 

102°20' 

102°15' 

102°08' 

102°07'

Drainage 

area ' 

(square 

miles)

6.1 

166

( 2 ) 

750 

519 

1,702

(3)

742

(3 )

(620) 

(620)

3,320 

(3 ) 

(25) 

(35) 

900 

(100)

Peak stage and disch

Date

Aug. 7, 1904 

Aug. 22, 1925

June 4, 1921 

do

July 27,1936 

July 28,1936 

Aug. 1, 1923

Aug. 22,1923

Sept. 30, 1904 

Aug. 7, 1927

Kept. 15, 1934 

-_..do__..___.

Apr. 24,1942 

Aug. 7, 1929 

July 11,1935 

.....do........

Oct. 1908 

Aug. 28,1935

Stage 

(feet)

22.1

12.8 

11.4

24.7 

15

12.0 

14.0 

13.29

18 

21

13.7

D
Rio Grande Basin

72

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

Rio Grande at Thirtymile Bridge. ..._ . ...

Rio Qrande near Monte Vista

Rio Grande near Lobatos...

South Fork Rio Qrande at mouth of South

Fork. 

Alamosa Creek above Terrace Reservoir _ __

Conejos River near Mogote--------___--._.--_

37°44' 

37°49'

37°41'

37°37'

37°29'

37°05'

37°40'

37°23'

37°03'

107°16' 

106°53'

106°09'

105°53.'

105°45'

106°39'

106°21'

106°11'

163

6 4 7fK)

216

107

282

June 28,1927 

....-do ......

Oct. 5, 19U

Oct. 5,1911

.....do... .....

____ do.. .....

7.03 

7.65

6.8

7.85

8.37

9.7

11.0

8.5

Colorado River Basin

81

8?

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

Colorado River near Palisade...

Colorado River near Fruita __ .......... ..

Qunnison River near Grand Junction.- ..

Skyrocket Gulch at Ouray............... ..

Dolores River at Dolores. . . .

West Creek near Gateway. ............

San Juan River at Pagosa Springs. .........

San Juan River at Arboles .

Animas River at Durango. ......... .

La Plata River at Colorado-New Mexico

39°07'

39°09'

39°02'

38°01'

37°28'

38°46'

37°16'

37°01'

37°17'

108°34'

108°45'

108°34'

107°40'

108°54'

107°01'

107°24'

107°52'

108°11'

^8,790

17,100

8,020

1

8 jog

»23

298

1,390

692

(175)

July 2, 1884

Oct. 5,1911

....do ....

Aug 24 1927

10.2

17

17

13.6

11.36

i Parentheses enclosing figures representing drainage area indicate that aot all of the drainage area above 

enclosed represent only the part affected.

' Flood of 1935 was probably higher, but discharge was not determined.

* Area affected by storm unknown.

* Slope-area measurement based on slope of stream bed.

» For results of peak discharge of tributary streams above Pueblo during June 1921, see p. 113.

 Does not include closed basin, which has an area of 2,940 square miles. 

' Low-water stage, 12.3 feet.

 Drainage area prior to 1912, about 524 square miles. 

' Contributing drainage area only.
146 FLOODS IN COLORADO

CHANGES IN CHANNEL CAPACITY AND DEVELOPMENT 

OF FLOOD-PROTECTION MEASURES

The history of floods in Colorado spans the years from the early 

days of the nineteenth century, when the only whites in the region 

were transient traders, trappers, and travelers, through the middle 

years of that century, when the early settlers arrived, to the present 

day. Although severe floods occurred prior to settlement, the 

evidence indicates that changes in the channels of at least some of 

the streams subject to floods have occurred since settlement began. 

The gradual development of city flood-protection measures, as 

experiences with floods have multiplied and meteorologic and hydrologic data have accumulated, can be easily traced.

Streams subject to severe floods are chiefly those on the eastern slope 

of the Rocky Mountains, those in the plains area east of the mountains, and those in the Rio Grande and San Juan Basins. When 

settlement began, great stretches of the plains area east of the mountains were covered with a natural growth of grasses indigenous to 

the region, and, although varying with the seasons, it is believed 

to have been fairly luxuriant. The stock-raising industry developed 

so rapidly in the region and spread over it so widely as to cause too 

close grazing of the grass cover in many places. Thus the protection 

the grass had afforded the soil from the violent rains and resulting 

floods was reduced materially. The intensive grazing may have 

tended also to pack the soil, and by thus augmenting the run-off, 

increased the flood discharge in some parts of the area.

In some places streams seem to be widening as the erosion of their 

banks progresses. When Trinidad was first settled, about 1860, 

the Purgatoire River was spanned by a footbridge about 30 feet long. 

Floods since that time have enlarged the channel until it is now about 

250 feet wide. The width of Fountain Creek at the town of Fountain 

was about 40 feet in the nineties but has now increased to 200 feet. 

Cherry Creek within the present city limits of Denver has increased in 

width from bout 14 to 100 feet since the sixties. This process seems 

to be continuing, and some floods so erode the unprotected banks 

of the streams that it is necessary to lengthen the bridges spanning 

them.

This tendency of streams to widen, at least locally, suggests erosion 

accelerated by some process incident to settlement of the region by 

white people, but the extent to which it may be'evidence of greater 

flood flows has not been demonstrated.

In. some places, particularly in the South Platte and Arkansas 

River Basins, the reduction of channel capacity has been incident 

to the development of irrigation. The many diversions for irrigation 

have reduced the river flow to a mere trickle except during the period
CHANGES IN CHANNEL CAPACITY 147

of melting snow, and even then the flow is only a small fraction of 

what it was before diversions for irrigation were made. This reduction in flow has resulted in a gradual choking of the channels by 

sediment and vegetation, until eventually their capacity has become 

so small that when floods occur the overflow for a given flood discharge is greater than formerly.

The development of flood-protection measures was of slow growth 

and passed through four stages: (1) Hemoval of buildings to higher 

ground, (2) improvement of river-channel capacity with no clear idea 

of the capacity required, (3) increase of channel capacity to equal the 

measured peak flow of the most recent flood, and (4) construction 

of storage or detention reservoirs to protect against the greatest 

probable floods. A brief discussion of these stages, in chronologic 

order, follows.

(1) The first settlements were made along the streams, usually 

close to the banks, and encroached on the channels of seemingly 

harmless streams. The outstanding example of such encroachment 

was in Denver. There Cherry Creek appeared to be such an inoffensive stream that some of the buildings, by a sort of gentlemen's 

agreement among property owners as to a reasonable width of channel, 

encroached so far on the natural channel that they were supported 

by stilts in the channel itself. The flood of 1864, which was the 

first after settlement took place, showed the folly of such procedure 

and destroyed many of the encroaching buildings. When rebuilt 

they were placed outside the natural channel. Beyond that, little 

was done to improve the channels. In Pueblo, similarly, buildings 

erected as late as the eighties intruded in the natural river channel. 

Fort Lyon was originally located on low ground close to the Arkansas 

River, but after the flood of May 1867 it was relocated 17 miles 

westward on higher ground.

(2) As the various settlements grew, and later floods caused overflow and resulting damage to them, steps were taken to increase 

the channel capacity, chiefly by raising the bridges or reducing the 

obstruction of the channel cross section caused by the bridges. But 

this remedy was haphazard, as the volume of the floods was neither 

measured nor estimated, and without such information it was not 

possible to know how much the channels should be widened or deepened in order to carry the probable volume without overflow.

(3) The second stage in channel improvement, and the third in 

flood protection, consisted in measurement of the peak flow of each 

outstanding flood as it occurred and the subsequent enlargement of 

the channel, if necessary, on the basis of this measured peak, to carry 

future floods of as large volume. In Pueblo, where the peak flow of 

the flood in 1894 was 39,000 second-feet, the channel through the
148 FLOODS IN COLORADO

city was increased to 40,000 second-feet. In Denver, where the 

Cherry Creek flood of 1912 had a peak of about 11,000 second-feet, 

the channel capacity was increased from 6,000 to 10,000 second-feet; 

in Colorado Springs, after the peat flow of 50,000 second-feet on 

Monument Creek in 1935, the channel capacity was increased from 

10,000 to 50,000 second-feet.

(4) As the cities grew and were able to finance flood-protection 

measures, they planned not merely for the greatest flood that had 

occurred since settlement, but for the greatest probable flood as 

determined from accumulated meteorologic and hydrologic data. 

Pueblo was the first city to take such action. The peak flow of 

103,000 second-feet during the Arkansas River flood of 1921 was two 

and a half times that of th'e flood of 1894. Mindful of the inadequate 

protection provided after the 1894 flood, provision was made by 

Pueblo for protection against a flood of 175,000 second-feet. The 

Cherry Creek flood of 1933 had a peak flow of 15,000 second-feet in 

Denver, and although this was due chiefly to the failure of Castlewood 

Dam, the city soon afterward constructed a detention reservoir 

designed to reduce a peak flow of 70,000 second-feet to 10,000 secondfeet, the channel capacity of the creek in Denver.

Improvement in flood protection by increasing channel capacities 

has been confined almost entirely to the cities, and little work toward 

adequate protection has been done elsewhere.
INDEX

A

Abstract---... -_- -_ --- -__ .__- __ 1-2 

Acknowledgemnts for aid_.- . -- 2-3

Alamosa Creek, discharge.--- .-_ __ . 121 

floods on.......____.__...__..... 121-122

gaging stations on_.___ .__. __. 121

Animas Eiver, discharge..--..__.._._, .. 139 

floods on........__.....__........ 136-139

Apishapa River, floods on._ - . _. 99 

Arkansas River, discharge.-------.---.. 77,81,82,83

flood on................................. 72-113

gaging stations on................__.... 73

minor tributaries, discharge....-.---..... 113

floods on..........----.--.----.._---. 113

Arkansas River Basin, floods in.............. 10,

13,15-16,72-113 

maximum discharges....-.------..-...- 143-144

precipitation in..................... 19,20,79,80

snow in_.......----...--..-.......... 11-12,14

B 

Bear Creek, discharge..._............_... 34-35

flood on.................................. 30-35

gaging stations on........................ 30

precipitation on.....----..-..--........-. 33

Bijou Creek, discharge....................... 71

floods on....._......................... 68-71

precipitation on......_--.--.__-.....__... 70

Buckhorn Creek, flood on..--.._..-..-.--_-.- 49-51 

Buckhorn Creek Basin, discharge............ 50

Boulder Creek, flood on..........._......._.. 41-44

gaging stations on.-._-.----.._---__..._-. 41

 Cache la Poudrc River, discharge -_..--.--. 55,57 

flood on..----...--.....--.-...--.---.. 12.51-59

Cache la Poudre River Basin, gaging stations

in.......----...-.---............. 51

precipitation in -_._-...--..--..---.-..--- 55, 56

 Canadian River Basin, precipitation in....... 102

 Channel capacity, changes in ..._.......... 146-147

Cherry Creek, floods on...........,...._..... 59-67

Cherry Creek Basin, precipitation in......... 66

Chico Creek, flood on........................ 95-96

Clear Creek, flood on......................... 35-38

Cloudbursts, occurrence.. 20, 22-23, 32, 36, 37,39, 

44-45, 48-49, 57, 84, 87, 88, 93-94, 95,99, 

111, 112, 113, 129, 130, 131-132. 

Colorado River, discharge.--....----------- 126,127

floods on...-....-.......-..-....--..... 123-140

Colorado River Basin, maximum discharges 145

precipitation in.----.--.---.------------- 20,125

snow in..---.-..-----._.---.---.-----..--- 14-15 

Conejos River, floods on .....-.....-.----.- 122-123

gaging stations on..._ .-_--....-.......-. 122

Dolores River, floods on.

Page

129-132

F

Flood protect! on, development of measuresfor 147-148

Floods, 1826, occurrence..________.__ 73

1844, meteorologic conditions preceding... 10-12

occurrence__..____..---.--..-- 24, 51

1853, occurrence. ____________.. 123-124

1859, occurrence-..----.---.--.-... 74, 100, 132

1864, meteorologic conditions preceding.. 12-13,

51-52 

occurrence.-------------------------. 24-25,

35, 38, 42, 46, 60-61, 74, 85-86, 92

1866. occurrence.____....__.___.. 100

1867. occurrence .________-_- 25, 36, 75 

1869, occurrence--.-...____._. 75,114-115 

1872, occurrence---.------.__._..---. 36

1875. occurrence_____.______.. 75,100

1876. meteorologic conditions preceding... 13 

occurrence.__.25, 30, 38, 42, 52, 61-62, 86 

precipitation during.........._ .. 13

1878, occurrence....---- --.__._ 62, 68, 100

1883. occurrence----..._....._...._. 101

1884. meteorologic conditions preceding_ 14-15

occurrence..--.__.____.. 52, 75-76, 86,

115, 124-125, 126-127, 128,130, 133, 136-137

1885. occurrence .....__._.......... 62-63, 87

1886. occurrence...._....___........ 76, 101

1888. occurrence.-------..---------.-. 36-37

1889. occurrence.-. . _-..-...._.... 76-77 

1891, occurrence-____....______.. 52-53

1893. occurrence.----.-- -- --_------- 77

1894. meteorologic conditions preceding-.. 15-16

occurrence.--- -.--__.__..... 25-27,

30-31, 38-39, 41, 42, 46, 77-78, 87-88, 92

1896, cloudbursts during________.... 22 

occurrence. ..._-- ._ .-. 31, 37

1901. occurrence.......................... 94-95

1902. occurrence................._...... 88

1904. occurrence-.............. 53-55, 79, 101-102

precipitation during.................. 102^

1905. discharge.------.------------- 116

occurrence..__... ...._ 116, 121, 122

1906. occurrence.-.---.-----------.-..---. 46

1908. occurrence-.-------.----. 79-81, 103

precipitation during-,..-__...- . 103

1909. meteorologic conditions preceding- -. 16-17 

occurrence.------..-..--- 130, 131, 133, 137

1911. discharge --. -- .- - 117,121

meteorologic conditions preceding.... 17-18

occurrence.. 96, 103-104, 116-117, 120, 121,

122-123, 130, 131, 133-135, 137-138, 139

precipitation during....._........ 116-117

1912. occurrence ._..........._..... 63-65

149
150 INDEX

Page 

floods, 1914, occurrence-..__..... ........ 43

1919, discharge---..------.-----...----..- 39

occurrence___-_-_-__...---. _ 39,46-47

1921. discharge-...---- 28, 55, 82', 93,118,125,126

meteorologic conditions preceding.-__. 19-22

occurrence._- 20, 22, 27-28,40,47, 55-56,81-82,

88-89,92,95, 96,113,118

precipitation during. 19, 20-21,55,95,125,129 

temperature records for....---.__--..- 20

1922. occurrence.. __....-___._...__ 65-66

1923. occurrence- ---------------------- 98,99

precipitation during. _ __. __ 43, 48, 50, 56-57 

snow during ----------.---_-.-_.-- 56

1925, discharge ------------------------- 104

occurrence----.-----,---_------_------ 104

1927, discharge----.-------------.--.---- 139

occurrence----------..------------- 118,120,

135-136,138-139,139-140 

precipitation during, ________... 119,135

1929. discharge -.._.-- --- - - -.-- 83,93 

occurrence. -..-----.------..---..-.--. 83

1930. discharge --------------------- 58,93

occurrence - --------------------- 57,99

1932. occurrence---------.-------.'---.--- 89-90

1933. occurrence ------__-___-------- 28,

31-32,37-38,66-67

1934. discharge------------------.--.- 83,93,110

occurrence-.---------____ 32,83,110-111

precipitation during.................. 110

1935. discharge --------------------- 30,71

occurrence------------- 29-30,68-71,72, 90-92

precipitation during-............. 70,91,112

1936. occurrence -__-____--------- 97-98

1938, discharge -------------------- 34-35,41

occurrence..-- 32-35,40,44-46,48, 50-51, 58-59 

precipitation during.___________ 33,38,43-44

1940, occurrence _--.___-_ _-._.. 130-131 

1942, discharge . 106,107,108

occurrence.-------- -------------- 105-108

precipitation during,. . ........... 105

1944, occurrence---____.-___ 83-84,84-85 

areas subject to_...---...-.----,..... 7-9

in Fountain Creek Valley, comparison of- 92 

maximum discharges....... . . 140-145

meteorologic conditions causing.... _. _ _ _ 10-23

methods of measuring.---.-._-.......-. 9-10

stage hydrographs of- ._ .... ... 8

TTountain Creek, discharge-_-------__..-.. 93

floods on --.._-...---_------------.- 13,85-94

Fountain Creek Basin, comparison of floods

in.. _.. _ 92-93

precipitation in..--------------_------ 90,91

Front Range, precipitation along.---......... 20

G

Granada Creek, discharge..__.. .... . 111

flood on.....---.....---..-._.--- ---_-_ 111-112

precipitation on.------------------------ 111

Grape Creek, flood on.-- ._-.-- _- 84

Gunnison River, discharge.-..---.- --_. 127,128

floods on.--.. .-.-------..-.--..----- 126-128

H

Page

Hogans Gulch, cloudburst in .............. 94

Huerfano River, floods on. -___ _ _ __ _ 96-98 

gaging stations on.----------------------- 96

precipitation oii--_ _ -____. __ _ 97

Huerfano River Basin, precipitation in_. 95,102.103

K

Kansas River, flood on__- __, ___- __ __ 11

Kiowa Creek, discharge.-.-.----------------- 71

floods on.. -----__--------.--------.._--- 68-71

precipitation on._. ____- _- ,. __- 70

L

La Plata River, floods on--.--..- -- - 139-140 

Lefthand Creek, flood on, - ____ _........ 41

M 

Mount Vernon Creek, precipitation on...... 33

N 

North St. Vrain Creek, gaging station on_ -- 38

P

Pikes Peak region, precipitation in.......... 19

Platte River Basin, snow in_ _...__.. 11-12,20

Purgatoire River, discharge. 104,106,107.108,109,110

floods on. .-----__ .-----.-.------.-.-- 100-111

gaging stations on..._. -_ -___- - 100 

precipitation on_.________________________ 11(1

Purgatoire River Basin, precipitation in.. 102,105

R

Republican River, flood on.................. 72

Rio Grande, discharge.- -- ----__--118,120

floods on... -- - -- 114-123

gaging stations on__- __...-...-......- 114

South Fork, floods on.................... 120

Rio Grande Basin, high water in .------ 14

maximum discharges------.-.-----....... 145

precipitation in ____- ___-_ - _ -_ 21,119

San Juan region, precipitation in_-_ _ 16-17,18.21 

San Juan River, floods on_._ ___........ 132-140

gaging stations on.. ... ..- . 132 

San Juan River Basin, precipitation in.---.- 135 

San Miguel River, floods on.-__ ._..__ 131-132 

South Boulder Creek, discharge.-- --------- 45

flood on--.---------------,---------__ 44-46

South Fork Rio Grande, floods on.__-_ 120 

South Platte River, discharge __....___. 28-30

floods on...___--.-__-....--_.__ 23-35

gaging stations on-...-.---..-._........ 24
INDEX 151

Page 

South Platte River Basin, floods in_--._______ 11,

13,15-16,23-71 

maximum discharges..__--__________.__ 142-143

precipitation in..--------_-----.---- 13,14,19, 20

snow in____.______________________________ 14

St. Charles River, floods on_....._._-_...____ 94-95

gaging stations on........_____.____...__. 94

St. Vrain Creek, discharge ----...---.---.-- 39

floods on.--.-------_----.--------.---. 38-46

gaging stations on._______________________ 38

T

Templeton Gap, floods in ____________________ 93-94

Thompson River, floods on_ _._______...______ 46-51

gaging stations on..._.._-__--.__-..____._ 46

precipitation on._.______-...__________.__ 47-48

Topographic zones._________________________ 5

Page

Topography, influence of, on precipitation .. 5-7 

Two Butto Creek, flood on..--_._.___....____ 112

U

Uncompahgre River, discharge._.-_______.___ 129

Uncompahgre River, floods on________._ 128-129

Uncompahgre River Basin, precipitation in.. 129

W

West Creek, flood on.._._..____._..._._._.. 130-131

Wild Horse Creek, flood on.-__...___._.... 112-113

Wild Horse Creek Basin, precipitation in.__ 112 

Wilson Creek, flood on...............__.... 84-85

Wolf Creek, discharge....__..___.__......._.. Ill

Wolf Creek, flood on....................... 111-112

Wolf Creek, precipitation on___.............. Ill

o