The Corvallis times. (Corvallis, Or.) 1888-1909, 1900-06-02
ANOTHER GREAT FLOOD.
To Come in 1904 Pioneer Predicts
Indian Trad itions and Past Floods to
Prove il

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there has always been considerable
nervousness. about high water. OF
course people see an occasional rain
bow in the sky. or in the falls Of
some great Niagara, to remind them
that an inundation will not occur on
SO extensive scale as it did when
the good old man with his three
sons gathered their families, stock,
poultry, and wild game into the
great floating ship. Neither do they
talk SO much about fire as they did
in former years; yet the old time
feeling that some day there will be
great deal of valuable property
destroyed by fire; and that many
will find the heat intolerable on
that occasion still haunts man like
the nightmare on high mountain.
People know that the deluge will
not be repeated; yet they fear that
the rivers may choke up in some
narrow pass and overflow the coun-
try above as it has done many times;
or that the water may spout from
above or below; that there might
be a general uprising of islands to
cause an overflow from the sea; or
that the ocean might break through
at some tidal wave and give us
great deal of unexpected trouble
and salt water. AT least one of
Oregon's- oldest citizens predicts
some remarkably high water; and
that for the near future.
Last week this pioneer of pioneers,
man who has been in Oregon since
'4S, lately said: Eyes sir, we've had
a delpge here; and it was since |.
came. It was in the winter of sixty.
one-and-two, and I remember it
very we'll. There had been some
very warm days days when work
ingman could not wear coat. Dur
ing this unusual weather, there
came very heavy rain, as hard a
rain as man ever saw. One awful
Sunday night which was as black
as the internal region | retired at an
early hour; only to be awakened
soon bya strong light as strong and
clear as shady day. It astonished
me; I was alarmed: I had been in
many queer places, dealt with all
kinds Of people, contended with the
savage on the plain, and successfully
met the lion, the panther, and the
bear; but l had never seen the
night suddenly change into day,
and | was fearful that the worst
had come. However when upon
solicitations of my wifi. approached
the window, my surprise was only
exceeded by horror when 1 beheld
the vast sheet of water extending
out On every side as far as the eye
could reach; and the lonely acre of
ground on which our house sat was
like little isle in a mighty ocean.
"But neighbor who lived far
above US was scared much worse
than I. He thought that the ocean
had really broken through the
aud he watched long
faithful in his back yard for foun-
ders and porpoises, herring and
shark, Goldfish, seaweed and whales.
He would not have been surprised |
to find a clam bed anywhere; and
an oyster cocktail raised OF his
own farm was not among the inn
In fact the air smelt so
briny to him that he ordered his
hired man to step to the door and
taste the water to see how brackish |
it was. Among his greatest fears
was that the seawater should break |
through into his we'll SO that he
would have nothing fresh to drink.
In day or two the water subsid-
ed to rise again the following Sun
day night. Each time the waters
were so high that we often saw our
neighbors' property floating away.
and when the waters fell we found
the carcasses of sheep, hogs, cattle
and horses lining the. fences near
my house. We we're unprepared
for such a freshet, hence were help
less. I never saw such a time be-
fore; I never want to see the like
again.
"But it was just twenty years
that we had nearly the
same kind of a thing; and ten years
later there was good showing; in
49, an old Indian told me that
shese things come regularly once in
twenty years, that this saying was
traditional in his tribe. Next Win
,er after next he continued, "the
lime will be up for it; and it's a
lead certainty that we'll have the
biggest water the younger generation
ever saw.
Before I go, let me give you the
late more exact. so you'll know
when to look for it. Since the count
y has been settled the high water
nas appeared three seasons, twice
each season. making in all six times: