Arizona weekly citizen. [volume] (Tucson, Ariz) 1880-1901, 1891-03-07
THE FLOOD.
The ella River Never SO
High Before.
HOUSES WASHED DOWN.
Many bitches Ruined--Clitton BE-
lieved to be Gone.
Particulars of Some of the Dams q
at Various Points in the Valley
Fences Gone.
HOUSES WASHED DOWN.
IBulletin.l

(Bulletin,)
The Oldest inhabltant is silenced- lie
fails to name a time when the ella river
was so high as it has been this week.
The high water Of lagt week was re-
heated and outdone on Tuesday two to
one. Monday evening heavy clouds
hung over this valley, and in some places
the rain came down IN torrents. Inc
heaviest rainfall was below SolomonVllle'
and in the foothills OF the Graham
mountains. ,.t,.
Alan early hour on Tuesday morning,
about 3 O'Clock, people living IN the east
ern portion of Solomonvllle, were
DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMES
Inv water coming in on them. The Mon
tozuma canal which was in their rear
had overhowed, and that part of the
town was soon submerged. The water
reached the saloon floor OF Abraham
0;az was all around the house occupied
bv T'ouis Voeckel. and was under the
norch of J. T. Fitzgerald's store. 1t
was nm into the corner of Solomon's cor
raj and Mr.. Solomon's residence and the
stove yas surrounded by water, from ten
10 twenty inches deep. On the north
side of the store the water was running
in a strong current ana feaFs were en-
tertained for the safety of the building
The family was aroused and wagon
and team procured, and all moved out
to the residence of Eduardo Garlic,
which, occupied higher and dryer
This was before daylight. and not un-
t,l the sun arose and cast its shirnmerlng
light over the vast sea OF water could
the
FULL EXTENT OF THE FLOOD
be realized.
The river was on a level with the al
falfa fields which lay Immediately under
the Montezuma canal, and was at least
one and half miles wide, and It's roar
was almost deafening.
Tt sounded much like a high wind in
a heavy pine forest. The inhabitants
were gathered before breakfast along
| the edge of the water, awe and almost
terror stricken at the sight presented.
| AWAY over ia one Of the fields could be
seen bunch of cattle and horses gath
| cred Oh a single spot Of high ground,
and Mexican men came wading through
the fields in search OF dry ground, some
| with blankets. some with clothes. and
one man carried sack of -four upon his
| hack. 1t was first feared that lives had
haen lost. but no information to that eff
feet has been received up to date. There
had been but
LITTLE RAIN IN SoLoMoNvILLE
but the fall must have been something
| fearful in the upper country, and the ar
rival of the stage from Duncan was
awaited with great anxiety, for 1t was
hoped that something could then be
learned from Clifton, which it was and
| is still feared has been washed away.
| The stage came in e,-having waited
| until noon at Duncan for the train
which was expected to run from Clifton
| to Lordsburg on Tuesday. As it failed
to arrive, there evidently has been fresh
| damage on the road, either Monday or
Monday night. From the driver. how
ever. it was learned, that the river had
been falling at Duncan until Tuesday
morning, when it began to rise. This
/ makes it certain that the
GREAT FLOOR ., WATER
that passed down the ella Tuesday came
| from the Frisco river and the Blue count
~, and convinces everybody that the
| town of Clifton has been washed away
Mr.. James Morris, one Of the oldest
settlers in the valley says the rise of sew
en- years ago was then said by old native
| Mexicans to have been the highest ever
| known, and the water on Tuesday was
| at least seven feet higher than it was
| then. Probably even the Aztecs never
saw such water in this valley. An evid-
ence of this fact is that the old Aztec
ruins, whose location in the valley indi-
cate that they were built with view OF
safety from high floods, the highest OF
them, were on Tuesday three feet under
water.
Plenty of evidence is at hand to sus
| tain the belief that
| CLIFTON rs GONE.
Tuesday, morning, early, when Mr.. j
H. Vaughn was wading the current be-
| tween his house and San Jose be noticed
many oil barrels and whiskey barrels rid
| ing the waves, and as all was safe al
Duncan on Tuesday, they necessarily
were washed into the river at Clifton.
Mr.. ]. H. VanOrder and his neigh,
bors living six miles up the river picked
up many articles that were washed ashore
Tuesday. which leaves little doubt OF the
fearful calamity that has been visited Oh
Clifton. Among the articles rescued
from the river were-one barrel of whiskey
three cans of coal oil in case, lumber
Of all kinds, piece Of rustic work be-
lieyed to have come from the Clifton
depot or Mr.. Shennen's house; one side
of a freight car was also found and two
braces known to have been used as sup
ports 10 the roof of the Clifton depot.
THE DAMAGE
to the people of this valley will be al
most irreparable at this time of the year
Many poor people who had gone in
debt for seed to plant crops will not on
" lose the chance of raising anything
this year on their land, but will lose
houses, fences, with everything In the
way of clothing, blankets and household
furniture. The dams have all been
swept away, fences gone; many houses
also and bitches filed with mud. Many
fields are badly washed or covered
with sand and mud which will prevent
seed already planted from growing.
Il AT SAN JOSE.
The river broke over its banks at the
ranch Of Montoya. The first place il
struck was that owned by Jose Garcia
where it is believed a 60-acre crop OF
barley was totally ruined. The land OF
Pedro Palma was entirely Submerged
and the entire barley crop, 70 acres, OF
Amelia E. Valia was badly damaged
The entire ranch of j. IL. Vaughn lis de-
clared by that gentleman to be destroy