St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-26
Johnstown Horrors Repeated
Along the Hassayampa
River in Arizona.
A Tornado Could Not Have
Wrought Such a Com
plete Wreck.
Creeks Filled With Human
Bodies and All Manner
OF Debris.
The Entire Loss of Life Will
Not Fall Short Of
Sixty.

PREscoTT, Ariz., Feb. 25.--The fall
ure of the messenger to arrive yesterday
with further particulars Of the great dis
aster Oh the Hassayampa river had a
tendency to engender the feeling of
hope in the hearts of many that
the news was exaggerated and that
the horrible catastrophe was not as
bad as at first briefly reported.
Such hopes. however were dispelled
last night about z O'Clock, when j. j.
Williams, mining superintendent, &C
companied by his brother, Ben Will
JAMS, of Bisbee, and Prof. James Doug
las, mining expert and capitalist,
arrived from Copper Basin and
rlated the brief story told
them by two prospectors direct
from Walnut Grove dam. Not only
was all the hope dispeiled, but their
story went to show that half had not
been told. A short time after the ar
rival of Prof. Douglas and the Will
Jams, E. FL. Beggs. stage agent, who
took Sheriff O'Neill and DR.. Miller to
the scene of the disaster, returned and
ADpOAtNu Outlo q iHCSSCtiSCI Will lutl
particulars had been sent by Sheriff
O'Neill. 1t was midnight, however, be-
fore this messenger arrived giving
list of the lost as far as is known, and a
partial list of the survivors. Sheriff
O'Neill writes as follows: "Rouark's
ranch Monday, Feb. 24.-The
SCENE OF DESoLATIoN
along the Hassayampa river below the
sites of the dams is complete. A tor
nado could not have made such COM
plete wreck. For miles the waters
turned free by the breaking of the
dams have filled the bed of the creek
with bodies and with enormous
boulders, trees and every other
thirty-eight names are partial list of
the drowned: Hannah McCarty, maid
to Miss Hanlon and Miss Van Buren,;
Joe Reynolds, miner; George Ebbetts,
laborer; n. e. Nickel, laborer; Alex
ander Mcmillan. coachman for Mr.. Van
Buren,; E. q. Wheeler, laborer;
one Mexican, name unknown;
G. L. Cook, laborer: N. l..
Coo k, labOrer; n. l.. White
laborer: John Silsbee, visitor; Charles
King, blacksmith; Patrick Shay, Pat
rick Barry. Charles Bracken, William
Flanagan, Frederick Palmer, Casper
Fre+ster, laborers; John Browne, en-
gineer; Alex Browne. engineer; S. Bur
borer, and child; George Run
dell. laborer. and eight China
men. Among the survivors are Miss
Mary HanloE, niece of II. S. Van
Buren,, president of the Walnut Grove
Water Storage company; James Red
dington, hydraulic engineer; Paul
Lansing, bOokkeeper; Robert Brown,
merchant, and all his assistants: Ed
mund Silsbee, FL. S. Van Buren,
and daughter, with Lieut.. A. n.
Brodie, superintendent. were in
Phoenix, having left for there on the
Tuesday preceding Besides these here
ers who were in the placer mines be-
tween the upper and lower dam. with a
number of reachers along the stream,
are missing. and when all the
CASUALTIES ARE ASCERTAINED,
the entire loss will probably be between
fifty and sixty lives. The bodies thus
far discovered are about dozen, MANY
of which were found twenty or thirty
miles from the place where the flood
overlook them all. The remains are
more or less mutilated, while in several
cases only fragments were recovered, as
the force of the flood was terrific
NhUliy udNG QOuUlltSS UGSI UtlIlcu
in the sand, aud others torn to pieces
and carried far sonth. The impetus of
the stream of water when turned loose
can hardly be appreciated without go
ing over the ground covered by it.
Thuse who saw it say that it
came down in an almost per-
pendicular wall 80 or 100 feet
high and apparently crushed down in
stead of sweeping away everything be-
fore it. Immense bOulderS, weighing
tons. were thrown around as a child
might toss ball. Enormous trees were
broken in two or torn into shreds. Iron
bars were broken and twisted out
OF shape, and ordinary fiat iron
miles and then embedded in the walls
of the canyon, eighty feet above the
present level of the stream. A large
safe belonging to Robert Brown, con-
tanning in the ueighborhood of $1,000,
was swept away and no trace has
been found of it. Whatever the water
struck went down. The flood struck
the lower dam at so and five minutes
later the headquarters, five miles
below, were swept away, Several per-
sons were at both points watching, but,
Notwithstanding this, the
NUMBER OF MEN DROWNED
az tltC IiISl pOiHb was OfCI anu
those who did escape did so with only
what they had on their backs, many
only in their night clothes. Early on the
evening of the 2lst courier was sent
from the upper to the lower dam to warn
the residents at the lower point that the
former structure was in danger of break
ing, but owing to the storm and dark
ness the messenger could not keep
ahead of the food, and lost his life in
trying to cross the Hassayampa river
within view of the survivors of the
camp he had tried to save.
Charles Thompson, courier
who arrived here this after
noon, from below Wickenburg, and
who lost his ranch above the lower
dam, reports that nine bodies have been
discovered at Wickenburg, and three
above in addition to those already dis
covered. The old Historis Brill ranch,
With all the other ranches along the
river, have been entirely swept away.