New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-07-03
TITLARE LAKE FILLING UP
SETTLERS DRIVEN FROM ITS BANKS BY a
SUDDEN FLOOD.
srs,yGB WAYS OF NATURE IN oANFoRNIA-
rYn JNUNDATON In THE COLORADO
DESERT STEADILY RIS1NG-EX-
prORrNG THE NEW LAKE.
nrrrtrGRApn TO LIE rRIRuNE. ]

witnessed on the Colorado bsert "' o"4'OH 40
bsinc repeated here where the partially oried
nm Tulare Lake, the largest body Of fresh water
~ ,be State. is beginning to ill up. driving out
many settlers, who have located ranches on 'he
- ounvial bcd of the old lake. There is
,1saDd among the Indians of Tule River that
,bs lake once covered many times the present
s.sa that it receded year by year tlll IT
had shrunk to small pond, around
which were gathered the fishing VII
,ages Of their grandfathers. But suddenly
the waters from the snow-capped Sierra
oiled down into the great Tuare valley, when
q one hundred miles wide at this point, ana the
Iaks bcgan to spread The Indian villages were
,,ysnt away before the occupants could remove
,he,r effects and many Indians were drowned those
bo e,caped fed 10 the foothills and they ana their
sesoendants refused 10 dwell after that near the
hOre of the lake.
aThe heavy snowfall last winter in the noun
taus brought down an enormous quahIity
Of water when spring thaws set In. Inc
sol was also heavily soaked, SO 1t could not
absorb the usual amount Of moisture Hehce
IN the streams have carried a great deal OF
water 10 the lake, but principally Kern
and Tule rivers II. II. Fuman, settler who
has ranch al the mouth of the Tulc River, says
that the stream is sixty feet wide and hft'cn teeo
deep and has swept away several ranch-houscS'
Fuman SAYS the lake has spread out nearly Ten
miles in a few days and the waters nave llSen ten
feet 4 new road made round tie lake Is uhder
water and Several persons who have urea 10
follow il had narrow escapes from droWhlhI'
This sudden rise of the waters and speau Ol
+he lake is the more remarkable as for ten years
.be lake has been gradually Ieceding ana
scientists who have examined II predicted that II
would entirely dry up soon. The loss to the settlers
around the lake is heavy, as tie land is extremely
fertile, and there Is project OF bul'dlng leNee
n confne the water. Tulare Lake Is noted Tor
is laree supply OF fish and musSes. Before the
present rise il was about twcny-lour by twenty
miles in area but ten years ago 1t was fully douDe
this area"
The Southern Pacific Company sent out To-Day
from Yuma an engineering party to IN
yestrate the appearance Of the large
body of water in Dry Lake to the south
west Of Salton The latest information from Yuma
is that the waters have not only flowed along
,hc old channel into what is called the sink,
but have broken out a little to tie north OF the
point where they usually overflow. that is,
nearer to Yuma Every year there is flow Of
water in the sink which travels along the old
channel and then gradually evaporates and sub
sides as the waters of the Colorado River fall
The old san Diego and Yuma stage
line has bridge over the old channel, and ten
months in the year no one would know why such
3 bridge had been built. There Is also q
ferry there which has been used during the annu-
al flood To the north of the sink and to. the
,ou,hwest Of Salton there is in some maps Of the
State lOna bean-shaped tract marked Old Dry
Lake Between it and the sink there is, how
ever, high ridge Of clay. In Old Dry Lake
there is now water covering an area OF thirty
miles in length and twelve miles wide II is only
twenty-one inches deep, however, and the ground
when dry is thirteen feet six inches below the
level Of the railroad tracks. The theory Of the
Southern Pacific engineers is that the water from
the sink has percoloted the ground under the clay
ridges, and has hled up Old Dry Lake.
There is no fear whatever, the officials say, of
the water ever reaching the tracks, because the
evaporation is great, especially under the intense
heat now in the desert. The stream running into
Old Dry Lake pours in at the rate Of about four
and a half miles an hour and 1t is to determine
the source Of this stream that the engineering
party started on a trip of discovery to-day On
tie east side Of the sink the company's tracks
have the additional natural protection Of one Of
The highest s,nd mountains in the United States
It extends almost parallel to the track for many
miles up to Clay Ridge from Cactus
dispatch from Redlands late last night
stated that the san Pedro boat had again been
sent out. At a point fifteen miles from SaltOn
they found the current running four and q half
miles per hour but the water was only fourteen
inches deep. The deepest water they found was
al point three miles southeast of Salton where
il is twenty-one inches deep At this place il
was only eight inches deep the day before. The
sailors we're compelled 70 come in soon after the
sun rose, the heat became unbearaDle. but
they started out again last night and had not
turned when the dispatch was seat.
Los Angeles, Cal, July 2.-IheTc IS no improve
ment Of affairs at SaltOn. The water in the lake
Is rising but no special uneaSlncss Is felt by the
railroad people. Owing 10 the almost unbearlble
heat II is impossible 10 get any white man to vent
ure on the desert at this time OF the year The
Indian runner sent by the railroad people has not
yet returned and the boat sent out from Saton has
only been able to get a short distance. 4 telegram
received at the railroad Office in this city says:
raised the water on tie north shore. The west wat"T
lhe is moving westward slowly cannot reach the
end Of the track and fear the track will with the
next strong wind. The waters are surely but slowly
TSe,v % The & qTatGR m Is g per % cent ire eSGeG Gors6 9sP
hVer which II leaves at point near Pilot Knob there
Is but little doubt.
:, In a7swer TO a dispatch of inquiry yesterday,
ouerlnendent Muir, Of the southern Pacific, r.
celNed the following from il w. Blaisdell. super
mlendent OF mines at Ogilby, eighteen miles this
side Of Yuma
an regard % the water that IS lowing into the desert
uOm the Colorado River at point fifteen
twenty miles below Pilot Knob. ever since the great
overflow In February, We have been wondering where
\ was going TO- cannot state that it is running to-
Lay, but if was week ago
dispatch received by The Times says the
Mater around Salton is now within 1000 feet OF
The main track it came in 200 feet in two hours
yesterday If il continues TO come in as it has
Deen doing, II vii wash out the Southern Pacific
track in three days. The deepest water found was
Three feet and the shaowest IN the current,
fourteen inches Superintendent DubrOw Of the
salt works, is alarmed and wants the rail
r0ad company 30 send men 10 fix the break IN
New River. The break IS thirteen miles below III
RIO, and Is about seventy miles from Salton The
Indians are 9diy scared ard all tho desert Indians
have He'd Ia the hills and those as high Gp as
Banning are leaving there Tor the mountains
a. week ago a medicine man cane 10 the Ban
ming reservation and told many Of the Indians that
Ine Messiah said there would he big food By
July a; that all the whites would be swept
away, and only Indians saved. lie said that In
dams who worked up 10 July 4 would not have
ume 10 get away All the lndi2ns are much eX-
cited, and zen the most intelligent ones are
going 20 Grayback Mountain with their families