Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1881-05-05
THE GREAT DAKOTA FLOOD.
Graphic Portrayal of the Ruin Betwe,
Sioux City and Yankton. --Sad Fate of We

Special Telegram to the Pioneer Press.
YANKToN, April 26.-I have just landed
from the Niobrara. which has consumed four
lays in making 125 miles. The
current has been fearfully strong, and
it is wonder We are here at all. find Da-
kota's capital seemingly little the worse for
the fact that but short time ago some of her
streets were canals and her houses water tanks
AL around, however, are evidences in plenty
'ns ssdder rum tales wrought e tell asse shsH
those Of my previous dispatch. Between
Vermillion and Yankton, on both sides Of the
river. except in that part of Nebraska in which
the reach of any flood, the
havoc is universal and widespread, complete
and appalling. cannot describe it, nor could
any pen. It transcends words, and
tss tas tba bas a,d9snns to see bos but moi pe
Missouri ran through and over the lower part
OF Yankton, and the gorges below obstructing
Its course, turned southeasterly, CROSS
ing the James river four miles
above its mouth, and for more than twenty
five miles
ROLLED ON ITS DEVASTATING WAY
over plain from seven to twelve miles broad,
covered with homes, and settled as densely as
any know in the West OF trees, there were
but few, and there was absolutely nothing to
check the progress of the sconrge Over that
"
either vast lakes OF water or huge
deposits of ice, the latter so high in many
places that only the peaks of the houses are
discernible At localities few and far between
are meager spots of high ground, and on these
the people are now clustered
THEIR ONLY MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
with those who fed them being boats and RATS
which come and 60 with difficulty and danger.
found on reaching Meckling yesterday that
the people SO long settled there had most Of
them been removed to the high ground in rear
of Vermillion. But the Gunderson's mill in
habltants still cling to that locality. 1t goes
without saying that all are suffering for
clothes, though of food there is no terrible
lack. During the first two weeks of the food
and about the Tayor elevator '0as snbsstaa
on the few cattle Mr. Taylor had rescued from
the water by means of pulleys, slaughtering
them on one Of the upper floors That same
Taylor, from rich proprietor, the owner Of
hundreds of cattle and much other valuable
property, is now reduced to a poor man,
as he managed to scramble into on
the night of threatened death Our boat
was not able to land near enough the sufferers,
either to take them off or to place food where
it would be accessible. 1t must go from here
In yawls. I wish I could send you.
A MAMMOTH PICTURE OF THE SCENE
On the Dakota side dark line leads straight
through where the railroad rests under
the millions of tons of ice and mud
The far-away bluffs look like the natural
mering brightness. The glass reveals all too
frequently the roof of some stately, comfort
able and we'll appointed dwelling, or barn, or
store, or church, and over al brooda
the silence Of desolation. 1t seems like mock
cry to say that this was once para
the chaos lies soil famed even
here for its richness Yet such is true, and the
dvosae. dwellefs claim S; that give them only
make the plain smile with green
grain a and RIPPLE pph with h sRenng Though
better faith and pluck than many who suffered
far less. The total population Of the plain of
which I have been speaking is shown
by the last census to be more than 5000.
don't believe that of that number one-sixth can
say their loss is slight, while fully one-half
may be regarded as
COMPLETELY DEsPonED
of all save the bare land. The total amount
in dollars is placed at $3.50, 900, and find q
desire to lessen rather than augment this total
The figures do not seem very large when COM
pared with those arising from fires or floods in
large cities, or the dense populations of the
East, but remember it represents total values
in improvements and personal property On the
Nebraska side of the river, the losses in the
three bottoms known as Brooky, Green Island
and Frankfort, in the order named as you come
up the river, are also terrible, if not as total
those ON the opposite side In the first
there are about fifty people who
have lost fully three-fourths of their stock,
nearly all their farm implements and ma
chinery. many of their barns and outbuildings,
and not few of their dwellings. The same may
be said of the other two, Frankfort and Green
Island, but in degree, for both are larger and
each as fully peopled and as thoroughly i'm
proved.
THE LOSS OF THE STOCK,
and more particularly the horses, touched most
nearly and keenly: The animals were their
outward and visible signs of wealth. Some
farmers lost from So, 600 to $4,000 worth,
and many long years must elapse ere they
can be replaced In the bottoms last referred
to the water came in the daylight and the ice
afterward. as the gorge broke wholly, so
that almost all the inhabitants had time to
flee to the high ground, though so
swift was the rush of the tide that few, if any
moveables were saved. do not want to worry
you with instances of endurance; but what
think you of three babes, one three, one eight
and one ten months old, who spent the coolest
| night after the flood "a night so bit
ter that ice of several inches thickness
was formed), perched in the branches of the
trees. their mothers holding them. That hap
pened, as know of, a verify, and the babies
are alive, we'll, and in St. Helena to-day.
John Nelson thought his brick house, which had
sheltered sixty persons on its roof during the
earlier floods, was surely safe and returned to
it to try and effect some salvage; but the last
structure
WILL PROBABLY FALL.
I could multiply and remultiply instances Of in
| dividual suffering, exposure, gallantry, danger
and escape, but more general matters press for
room. Opposite this city stood the fouris hing
and dwellings in plenty. lean soc the location
| now, and q solitary building is all thai
marks it Swept out Of existence are
the buildings, every one, and the debris Is
buried fathoms deep beneath these jagged,
shapeless, horrible piles Of ice in which
is congealed SO much mud and sand
that the prevailing color is black
and the whole effect that of masses of lava
| elected from some volcano. There are no ashes
from which this town can rise, and weeks must
| pass before human feet can press its site.
! vERMuLIoN.
The fate of Vermilion, a sprightly, busy,
thriving little city of 900 inhabi tants, is truly
pitiable. Its glory has departed, and
HUGE SLABS OF suLLEN ICE,
looking like shining turtles of prehistoric size
usurp its streets and cover . majority of its
buildings. The Vermillion river comes in
onslaught Of the great artery Of the 14O
houses in the lower town, ninety seven
are utterly wrecked. Prentiss & New
TOMS handsome business block was
30 injured aS TO pc w0rthl ees,
and the large brick store of Lee & Prentiss
| threatens every moment to become an utter
ruin. Shops, houses, banks and stores are a
chaos, and the Unsuitable stream is eating
away the very ground itself. gnaw-
ing huge pieces momentarily from
the banks and threatening to leave not tn Q
faintest strip between bluff and channel The
loss is estimated from 1925, 900 to ST. 80, 600,
and this is largely in reality, as time was given
to move much Of the portable property to
the upper town, where are all the hand
some residences of the business men,
It is believed by some that even should the
inroad Of the waters be checked. the town
will never be rebuilt especially as it is now
mooted that the Dakota Southern will abandon
it's present line and adopt one partially
graded and running fifteen miles in
land. Others assert that the importance
| of the place as an entreport and shipping point
| will insure Its speedy rebuilding.
The Cannon Man Fails to Go Off.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
During the "side- show" entertainment
given at Robinson's Circus nightly after the