The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1877-12-06
TIE TRINITY RIVER.

The recent extraordinary r'sasin the
Trinity snggrsts tAe idea Of giving YOU
brlef history of the noticeable usps
lHat haye occurred In the last thirty
yHu
IAls last rice Is remarkable for being
I'D nIl rise. and one Of those that nave
,uccecdtd each other IN the last five
weeks for being the highest rise but
one, and for coming up 80 rapidly
Colonel John y Bryan, the distins
mi.hed pionrer,Rnd founder Of this city,
made the first high water mark, in 1912
lfnot in the fall this was late in the
summer, and more than thirty years ago.
The colonel had u very clearly dehnde
mark the butting pole of his cabin,
Butirom bearof decay and that his cabin
might not withstand the progress, he
anticipated OF his embrio city, he dc.
telmined to fix the mark of that mas.
ter rise on permanent, ilnot impcr.
ishable object, Selecting solid, thrifty
Spanish oak, he hacked the mark on
that But there isno accounting for the
rayagcs Of time and the waste and dis.
uuction Of cherished objects to gratify
n grasping avauce, and desire OF iam0,
10 shield the ierry,E9ad from washing
ditch was r hard " the base Of that
stalwart oak, The ditch soon became
II deep gulch, damaging the tree by eX.
posing the roots A whipNsaw pit was
erected upon the gulch, the tree becom-
ing one of its supports, Statutes We're
cnaected requiring the banks of streams
ON ferry roads TO be graded and this
road was cut down, leaving the oak high
upon our side, Finally the tree faded,
died, and fell but not till after the
great rise OF lS49. In September Of
that year the river began to rise in clear
beautiful weather 1t came, up and out
and over the bottom, giving clear indi'
cation Of Il big" rain, 1t was rising
slowly but surely, from six to eight in~
ches day, till it came to be mat.
ter of interest, and enquiry as to the
high water mark, Colonel Bryan was
saught, came and showed the mark,
The river rose on for three or four weeks;
the mark was reached and three feet
higher attained, and this would have
iusta bout the comb, instead
of the eve of the little house, had it been
there; but, alas, it was gone. This was
af all rise, and fixedt he high water
line for seventeen years.
Spring rises were common; were
looked for every year, and generally
came. Would miss some years how
ever, and never came to Colonel Bryan's |
mark, again, until 1866,
On this occasion, in the spring 9th |
Of May, it came up to Colonel Bryans
mark, to the mark of 1919, and as if to |
show its utter contempt for any limit
that might have been fixed as its
in one night it sprang up over
three feet, and did not cease rising un'
Lll il had reached six or seven feet above
the highest water known to the oldest
This rise brought great
to the people OF the city
or besides the fears Of il coming over
.he highest ground, there were cries OF
distress from so many quarters, along
he lower grounds, that it seemed i'm
possible to relieve them, although every
person, and every means were EN-
lloyed.
The water was at the extreme high
water mark, and no one could believe
/ possible for it to get higher. 1t was
tuesday morning; it began to ram
fresh to pour down in torrents, Such
. fall of water had neye been seen, per"
laps, by any of those settlers, 1t con
tinued, with no sign of abating, for six
mortal hours. 1t ceased; the clouds |
were rolled up, the thunder died away,
the sun shown out and quiet and CONS
fort came to every family and lireside.
Night soon came, and rest and reliet
were sought in that Sweet restorer
oalmy sleep"
In the far depths of hight, the inhabN
tants of the city were aroused by the
wall of distress, and cries tor help,
citizen, lady, in her
sleep and sweet dreams, let her hand |
fall over the opd,rail, and it splsshed IN
the water, which opened a scene ofNnXi-
Gus fears AID busy cares for the next
twelve or fifteen hours; but the energy |
Of the oitzans were equal to the emer>
gency and all were save.
This rise lacked but eight feet OF com
ing upon the public square from the
river front, and only afew feet, perhaps
but few inches Of passing round, back
of the city, short distance east OF
where the Lamar House now stands.
TO make this rise the citi2ents fixed
a metal plate on long cottonwood that
,toDd q .ew feet south of where the west
end of the Dallas bridge now Isl but
strange to tell, this tree, though apparn
emily sound and well set, stood but
short time. d,
This seems to have to exhausted the
means, and the rises were very moder'
ate until 1872, when on the tn OF April
n great rise came up to within about SIX
feet of the rise OF 1866, and within about
one foot of this last rise.
Since 1872 there has been fewer rises
than common, but the rises oil TINS iaii
is urpreccdented. Thus rises IN one
fall. in FIVE weeks, has never transpireu,
here. before. There was a singular
,radation in those rises; The last being
five feet higher than that OF the 9th
instant, and that of the 9TH about one
foot higher than the rise of October Is.
This last rise was about one foot higher
than that of 1872, and came WITHIN ii'e
feet of the great rise of 1866.
10 close observer the changes IN
the topography of places, in and around 70
. growing city, is a matter OF no
li,tIecuriosity. They are imperceptible
to common observation could only be
ascertained by careful measurement
but are shownby the rises OF the river
They are the results of wear by use
packing, rubbing of, aud filing up
They would astonish those VINO nave
assed over them for years, APP
parently without change, to be shown
what great mutations they have UNDER