Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1881-04-20


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II does not appear that those who have
been dwellers upon the recently flooded
Missouri bottom lands of southeastern
Dakota, intend to abandon the posses
sions no long occupied by them. This is
rich agricultural and grazing tract, and
it's soil and ,ts grasses'havc yielded profit
able returns to most of its occupants
Year by year q improvement has been
the result Of their laborr. They have
built comfortable homes and have reduc-
cd their we'll cultivated farms to stage
Of protlnctiveness which renders them the
most valuable of any in this portion of
the west. Though the great disaster llns
seriously crippled these heretofore pros.
peroua people, and has endangered their
lives, we cannot discover TINT many of
them seriously contemplate an abandon
mentof their bottom possessions A large
majority of the occupants of the inun-
dated region will probably return as the
waters recede, and there begin anew their
pursuit Of prosperity, and the establish
ment of comfortable homes There is
now promise Of substantial nil from the
east for the unfortunates, and this will
assist them in their efforts to overcome
tho dire results of the flood. In the past
there is no authentic record of so disas
trous flood as has this spring devastat-
ed all this region, and, Judging by the
past, we have no reason to suppose that
another will come during the present
generation. Experience has also taught
us how to read in the signs of the winter
the effects of the succeeding annual
spring break up. We now know that IL
long season of severe cold, accompanied
by heavy snow fall, is almost certain to
produce the unusual freshcts which found
our people so totally unpreparcd this
spring. We know that when the heavy
ice of the Missouri begins to break at it's
upper end, there is danger in remaining
upon the low lands Of this section. Know
ing the effect Of these conditions, should
they ever again be repeated, n large pro-
portion OF the exposed property can he
transferred to places Of safety in time to
avert the disaster which is now upon us.
The great productiveness of the bottom
lands is an iRduccment to those who un-
derstand its qualities to remain and in
cur the risk of an overflow, even after the
severe lesson of this flood. But they will
be better prepared in the future and will
not be exposed again to repetition of
the scenes through which they have just
passed. 1t is reasonable to hope that the
general government, usually SO lavish
with its means in expenditures for the
protection Of people and property against
food along the great rivers, will interest
itself in this section Of Dakota. Against
ordinary overtows embankmcnts along
the river front Will prevail as effectnnlly
here as along the lower regions of the
Mississippi, where thousands OF produc
tive plantations lie many feet below the
level of the confined water. Appliances fol
the destruction of the immense gorges
which follow the sudden breaking of the
solid ice of the Missouri can be rendered
available and it is the duty of the gov
ernment to provide these and to place
them where they can be used to preven
such disasters rs have gone upon the re
cord of the spring of 1881. It was tn
gorged ice which caused the overflow ant
the consequent destruction of property
The removal of the cause would hav'
averted the consequences and we holt
that it is possible for science to deal will
such freaks of nature and rob them o
nearly quarter of million acres Q
valuable Dakota and Nebraska farming
lands will not be abandoned because g
the recent serious experiences Of thei
occupants.
In the history of the past We have tn
foods of the spring OF 1862, which wer
small affairs compared to the one throug
which the people Of this region hav
Just passed. During that spring, waite
came upon the bottoms below Yankto
three times, though it was not as dee
bv Mt least six feet as during the heigll
Of the late overflow. The first inund'
tion came with the breaking up of I'll
ice and was caused by n gorge. The Sc
ond resulted from floods in the jim
which ieft its banks and spread itse
over the bottom lands below. The thil
was produced by the June rise. The
several floods caus ed no great loss
property and did not endanger hnmanlii
In the spring of 1878 there was anoth'
comparatively mild ireshet, occurring
ApriI,which caused brief suspension
railroad trains, but did no further dal
age. The succeeding June rise did IL
reach the bottoms to any noticeable G
tent. But it will be we'll enough to pr
pare for small overflow during the col
ing June rise, rs there is yet much sn'
upon the ground which will swell t
volume of the Missouri when it melts
THE FIRST EMPIRE.
An Eccentric Character of the Reign