The Benton weekly record. [volume] (Benton, Mont.) 1880-1885, 1884-03-01
The River Rising Slowly.

From Mondays Daily.
A scene Of terror and excitement such
rs was never before witnessed in Benton,
even in the days of Indian troubles, began
last night at about ] o'clock and continued
until daylight. The cause Of the trouble
WAS the breaking up OF the Missouri ana
the formation Of an Ice gorge 1t the mouth
nG the Shonkin. causing the water TO rise
above the banks and spread over a portion
Of the bottom upon which Benton
j. located Nearly Ill t',s.
Fanatics on Front and Main
streets left their homes and fled to the
hon>cs on The hillside without waiting to
secure Il single article Of household prop
erty. The water extended to the side
walks upon the highest ground on Front
street, and the stores and dwelling houses
ON low ground were flooded, some TO the
depth Of two feet on the 1irst stories. 4
large amount Of merchandise MAS de-
StrOycd in til" levee warehouses and the
wall Of the engine house faCing the river
Was preached by the huge masses Of ice
driven against il by the wild stream. The
loss OF property and merchandise will pro
lably foot up $40 000 ana possibly the
losses may prove much greater when the
full extent Of the damage is known. AS
soon As the water rcceded, the merchants
began removing their goods from the
warehouses and have been hard 1T work
I'll day taking them to places Of safety
and separating the damaged from the I'M
injured goods.
TIE HTNEE OPENED.
At j 80 p. III. and for awhile til" ice
moved swiftly and 40 danger was antici-
pAtcd until the gOrges began TO form and
hack up the water The movement OF the
ice WAS checked Il number Of times, but
broke away in lew moments, until the
6nal gorge was formed at about | | y. ~
THE ALARM
MAS given by the firing 0. pistols and
the yells OF excited men, Several citi-
Hcns mounted horses and rode through
The streets warning every family Of the
threatened flood, while the livery stables.
and probably every owner Of Ii horse and
wagon, hitchcd up their teams and drove
the families to the hill, where many of
them were accommodated by the residents
Of that location who had Fortunately built
their houses where the flood could not
reach them. ;OtlerS took refuge in the
churches, al"l one family, probably not so
badly frightened as some, stopped i'll the
KECoRp building, and were entertained
by Co]onel.I. j. DonnelIy. The
EXCITEMENT A>n CONFUSION
was most intense until ali the families had
been placed ont Of danger, but the anxi-
ETY. for the fate Of their home, and nYon-
erty was probably very great and there
Wa> no thought OF sleep or rest until the
welcome news came that the water was
rrrcdinI. Those whose homes had not
been reached by the food began returning
before daylight. but nearly all The houses
on the south side at Front street
ana the leyrr were more
"' less Hooded. and some are still vacant.
All the houses on the reservation addition
were either Hooded or surrounded bv
"''ter' ana many families are occupying
o(hcf quarters. Andrew Forrest. OF Klein
>'l1nidt L Bros, informs lis that his
h"c1l'n2 was the only oHe not torched by
The water III that part Of town. The resi-
oe'lces OF Messrs. Charles Duer, Kelly.
''eS' fackcntnalI, Mrs. McDcvitt, and