The record-union., 1892-12-31
DESOLATED FARMS.
Terrible Effects of the Flood About
Suffer County
Hundreds OF Thousands of Dollars
Lost Many Residents Lose ALI
Rivers Leaving their Channels.

c. " Foote of this city returned yester-
day after five days lively and exciting
experience with the flood in the vicinity
ofthe junction Of the Sacramento and
Feather Rivers. People living high and
dry in this city with only an occasional
view of the river as it flows past within
its embankments, have not even the
faintest conception of the situation up in
that locality, which is, according to Mr.
Foote, appalling in the extreme.
On Saturday last he left Sacramento
for the ranch of his father-in-law, J. A.
Peters, near the town of Nicolaus, for the
purpose of assisting in saving as much
OF the livestock as possible, and, if neces-
sary, removing the family to place Of
safety.
To give in detail Mr.. Foote'S recital of
all that occurred in that locality since
Sunday last would require several col
umns of space. THE flood" he said,
was the most disastrous that ever came
down upon the people in that part of the
valley, and many of them will never re-
cover from its effects. In fact, scores of
farmers have been utterly ruined. A
lew of the more wealthy are able TO stand
have lost everything-houses, barns,
fences, cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry.
You folks here" said Mr.. Foote,
have no idea of the extent of the calam-
ity. Why, the country has
BEEN SWEPT CLEAN
In the vicinity of the junction of the Sac
ramento and Feather Rivers, and the
carcasses OF hundreds of once valuable
horses and cattle are lying all over the
Wv thnU
lodged in the brush or are held by float
ing fences and other distractions. These
decaylng carcasses will cause a great deal
of sickness III that locality next spring.
AS to effect on the quality of the drink
ing water down this way-weL, l leave
that for others to reflect upon.
THE women and children were nearly
all removed to Nicolaus on Sunday, but
not until most of the ranch houses were
surrounded with four feet of water
Boats and gum-boots were at a premium
up that way, and are yet. L offered
SIXTY DOLLARS FOR A SKIFF
That was worth about five dollars, but
the owner wouldn't sell it, as he could
make that much out of it in a couple of
days. Ranchmen will gladly pay at the
rate of s. a head for those of their horses
and cattle that are rescued, and there are
plenty of them yet standing in water up
to their bodies.
i was out in big skiff last Monday"
continued Mr.. FOote, trying to save
some. OF our livestock that were being
carried away by the rushing waters. |
dared not tackle the horses or cattle but
picked up eighteen hogs at one load and
carried them back and deposited them in
the loft of the barn, where they are yet.
NOTHING LIKE IT.
THE flood of lS61-2 was nothing as
compared with the present one. Why,
IN Ind Hon ii D.
ranch that stood several feet out of water
then, but which was this time sub
merged four feet. Old residents there
say that in 1872 the river had natural
channel of twenty-four feet in depth,
where now, owing to the filling by sand
from the mines, there is not depth of
four feet. The water must 60 some
where, and these people declare that if
the same quantity of water had come
down that came in 1872 it would have
buried the whole valley up that way and
not a soul would have escaped to tell the
tale"
HEAVY LOSSES.
Mr.. Foote declares that the losses to
farmers within radius of a few miles
ABOUT NicolauS will amount to close
Upon a quarter of million of dollars. c.
a. Peters, whose ranch is one mile below
NicOlaus, has suffered to the extent of
$4,000; John Bowman's loss will be up
STORMS
Bros. and the Swalls Bros. have lost
nearly everything, while there are scores
Of others whose losses will be nearly
complete.
In short" said Mr.. Foote, there will
be barely enough livestock and improve
lnents left in that section TO give the resi-
dents even modest start again in life"
y. ID. Rideout lost go head of cattle
from the old Brannan farm, and Mr.
Foote says it was a sickening sight to see
them swept down by the boiling, rush
ing torrent. Some of the cattle were car
ried against a barbed-wire fence by the
fierce current, and there they were held
by the force of the water a struggling
mass, until they were torn and bleeding
and sank from exhaustion and loss Of
blood.
Why" said he, 81 saw horses worth
$500 a span going down with the current,
and could do nothing toward saving
them; and as for sheep, hogs and poultry,
the inland sea was covered with Them
lone man had 500 cords of tour-foot
live oak, worth 50 a cord, piled on the
bank of Feather River, and it all went
down. For twelve hours there was a
perfect stream of the wood passing a
given point, and a few men with good
sized boats or barges could have made
thousand dollars easily that day captur-
ing the logs"
DEER AND WILD HOGS.
One of the most remarkable incidents
of the flood, as told by Mr. Foote, was in
relation to the deer and wild hogs that
inhabited the brush in the lowlands. He
says these animals swan for miles to the
leyees, on which they gathered in large
numbers.
"Neighbors told me-" said Mr.. Foote.
that great big bucks, with antlers seven
feet long, were found on the levees in
such an exhausted and terrified condi-
ton that they allowed men to pet and
caress them, and even seemed to like it."
THE FEATHER BLoCKADED.
More important than all these flood in
cidents related by Mr.. Foote was his state
ment regarding the effects of the levee-
breaks ON the Feather River, and even on
the Sacramento, and it VeritieS all that
Patrick Carroll of Nicolaus had prophe-
sled repeatedly of late through the col
umns of the REcoRD-UNIoN.
According to MIR. Foote'S statement.
there Is now break 1000 feet long in the
Bear River levee two miles north Of Nico-
laus. on the Peasley farm, through which
the water from that stream is pouring
over the country in this direction.
one mile below Nicolaus, at Nelson's
Point, the Feather River is discharping
nearly its entire volume of water throuCb
q long break on the old Nicolaus ranch.
This water rolls down in resistless eur-
rent across the Peters ranch, and pours
into the American River basin north Of
Sacramento City, just as MIR. Carroll said
would be the case if the Government did
not close the break at Nelson's Point
The result has been already that the
Feather River has become choked with
sand between Nelson's Point and Vernon,
where it joins the Sacramento. Between
these points the Feather River is now
simply a dead slough, while the river