Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1897-04-01
THE FLOOD OF 81
The seethipg, surging Torrent
which Swept the Missouri
Bottoms, Causing Nu-
merous Deaths and
GREAT DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY
From the Yankton Herald of April o, 1881.
THE GREAT GORGE,

| N'NANN''%s
Terrible as was the inundation des-
scribed in last weeks Herald, it pales
bafure the horrors of the one which
has deluged the face of the earth for
400 miles up and down the Missouri
river during the past week. While
more actual loss of life and property
may have resulted from the terrible
suddenness of the first onslaught of
the turbid tide, in the height reached
| by the water and in the awful body of
ice borne on its current the second and
latest rise completely overshadows the
| former The spectacle as furnished
the sight-seers from Sunday evening
until Wednesday morning was one con-
stant panorama OF continually chang
ing scenes of interest, all blended into
phantasmagorla of awful spblimlty
and granduer by the knowledge OF the
tremendous destruction of property
and life that all felt
MUST BE TAKING PLACE
whenever such life and property was
located on the valley lands drained 10y
the monstrous and merciless river.
Briefly described, the manner OF the
coming of the last rise was as follows:
AS stated last week, after the great
rise of Wednesday the Both ult.. which
inundated lower ankton and the jim
river bottoms and swept the town of
| Green Island out of existence in a few
hours, the river fell rapidly back into
its banks. Thursday Friday and Satur-
day, it remained with but little change,
although constantly filled with float
| ing ice sometimes in greater quanti-
ties than others. On Sunday morning,
however, 1t commenced to rise rapidly,
owing to the gathering of the ice in a
water continued to come steadily up
all day. the gorge meanwhile extend
ing itself up the river with amazing
swiftness. Toward evening people
living in the lower part of the city, who
had moved back after the falling of
the first rise, again
BEGAN TO MOVE OUT,
and that their fears were well ground
ed was proven on Monday morning
when the waters again covered all that
: portion of the city below the bench
All day Monday the gorge held firm
with the exception of intervals OF a
moment or two, when it would groan
and heave and move few rods down
the stream only to become stationary
again The water rose steadily all the
time, and the pressure brought to beal
on the gorge must have been incalcul-
able, When the tremendous mass
would move down the river on one OF
its semi-occasional jerk, great masses
of ice weighing many tons would be
forced high in the air and borne along
until finally they would be over-ridden
by piece yet larger than themselves
and again forced under. The large
trees, d foot or more in diameter, which
stood on the side OF the bank on the
point just above the city, were sub
merged by the rising torrent and fl
nally cut smooth off and dragged under
as if in the tenacles of one of the
> mighty devil fishes described by Hugo
The whole Green Island bottom oppo
/ site the city was again being groune
beneath the mighty mill stones of ICE
heaviug and rolling about as if seeking
fresh prey on that devastated spot
This was the only place where the ice
moved continually on Monday. The
gorge continued all night Monday anC
all day Tuesday. with but little change
of its features. All this time the
streets were literally alive with people
!, At last on Tuesday evening at 4 O'Clock
the mighty wall of ice suddenly gath.
cred itself for
LAST ASSAULT,
! and then with resounding roar gave
way and went tumbling down in on,
+ mighty avalanche OF destruction, awfu
to gaze upon and grand beyond des
D cription in its reslstless progress. ON
might, in looking at it, almost imagine
= the feeling of some preAdamite mar
i in the dim vistas or the past, hundreds
of centuries ago, as he watched tn,
+ migh1y sweep of some gigantic glacie
which geologists tell US once Dor,
/ across the tace of this country. grind
ing and pulverizing everything betor'
! it. 1t could not have been "a mucl
worse sight than the one presented t.
j the modern eye on Tuesday evening
The waters fairly leaped up, and il
# a few moments had reached it highes
altitude since the beginning of tn
q nood-41 feet above lowwater mark