Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1897-05-29
DAMAGING CLOUD BURSTS
MINES, FARMS AND ORCHARDS ARE
DESTROYED IN IDAHO.
Settlers Are Compelled to Flee t.
the Hills for Safety-Cattle
Are Drowned.

! Grangeville, Idaho. May 22.t-Partculars
reached here yesterday afternoon of a
disastrous cloudpurst that visited the
| valley of the Salmon river on Monday
/ last which carried In Its wake ruin and
desolation for a distance of Il miles. and
laid waste one OF the garden spots of
! Idaho county. Not only were old estab-
lished fruit farms destroyed, nut the
placer mining industry along the Salmon
and its tributaries suffered severe losses,
and worse still prosecution of work in
many instances will be interrupted for the
balance of this season because of the
carrying away of dams and fumes and
destruction of the only avenue of trans
porting material for repairs into the dis
trict. In less than half an hour every
mountain gorge and ravine leading down
into the Salmon became a mad, raging
torrent, which carried with it huge
boulders, trees, etc.
AT the foot Of each ravine is found the
most fertile soil in the valley, and here
are situated some Of the finest fruit farms
and ranches in the entire state. Through
these farms swept with resistless force
great volumes of rushing waters and de-
bris, laying waste the orchards and crops.
In number of instances the settlers
were compelled to flee to the hills for
i
lOWlands were drowned and carried by
the resistless flood into the Salmon river,
which soon became a torrent.
The cloudburSt, as near as could be
ascertained, covered territory along the
Salmon from several miles above John
Day creek to White Bird creek a dis
tance of about q miles. The little towns
were inundated and much damage done
by the Salmon oVertoWing its banks
Above John Day creek is the Strong -Ep
person mining company Here the dam
and large sections Of the f1ume We're car
ried away and the ditch filled up in
places. The Victor Mining Company, op-
Grating at the mouth Of John Day creek
fortunately escaped without serious dam
age to its property. Near Freedom, where
Owens and Ide of Spokane were putting
in fumes and bitches preparatory to pla
Ger mining on a large scale, the floods
carried away their entire improvements.
A number of other companies above and
below here suffered heavy losses.
Perhaps one of the worst features
consequent to the flood was in the al
most entire destruction of the state wag
on road for a distance of 20 miles, where
it winds along the bluffs on one side of
the Salmon river. The rushing torrent as
it came down the mountains washed out
the road in places, and at other points
slides and washing sand boulders and
trees, completely obliterated the road. 1t
will be impossible to make the road pas
sable before the season is over, and it is
the only avenue of transporting lumber
and other freight into the valley. 1t
simply means that placer mining, where
the fumes and such improvements as re-
quire lumber, have been carried away,
will have to be suspended for this sea-
son, as the necessary repairs can not be
made. 1t is impossible at this time to
give any figures as to the aggregate loss
caused by the cloudburst. AS far as was
learned no loss of life has been reported