Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-06-13


started, and when the mare got to
where She had To begin swimming |
slid off behind and let her tow me
with the rope. When we struck the
swiftest part of the current | didn't
know whether we were going to make
il or not, but the mare made a few
desperate strokes and with a plunge
gained the bank and dragged me out
after her. | was a prefty-looking OBJ
ject-all covered with mud ana slime
-but knew we were past the worst
place, and we SET out along the mount
aims again for home. We skirted
along Till we came to yigiles. and
there | left the hills and came right
down the present road to Upper Town.
Yes, 1t was still pouring down all
this time, and | was about as wet
and cold as a fellow ever gets.
rode down past Aniceta Baca place
10 ulibarris-Jose de Jesus Ulibarri,
one OF the historic old figures. He
was the "Alcade' or Justice under
the Mexican government who parti-
toned out the Las Vegas grant in
1885. 1t was hard for me to see the
joke about my appearance, but the
way he and his wife laughed reckon
must have looked pretty funny, and
looked funnier yet when | got in
side and got on some Of his dry
clothes, for he was six feet four and
big in proportion, while was simmer
than | am now. He lived about a
mile above town, and we could see
from the looks OF the river that it
was no use to try TO cross till morn
ing.
Next morning we rode down to the
crossing, which was ON the old Santa
Fe trail, right where bridge street Is
now. The channel Of the river then
was where Twelfth street is now
there by Clay & Givens' There we're
no houses To the right or left of Bridge
street; just cornfields on both sides.
Bridge street was six to eight feet
lower than it is now. We struck the
water about half way between Uli-
barri street or Eleventh and Twelfth
streets. Then we stopped. Looking
across, we could see that the water
reached clear TO Shupp's shop-that's S
the old adobe right below the Romero
nose house. The surface of the water
was about three feet higher than the
present bridge. How deep was it?--
well, it was deep enough-was no use
| 10 think of crossing. We started back
and then took a notion to ride around
| the hill-where the Normal stands
n0W--to about the place where the
Presbyterian church is, and take a
| look at the valley Looking down TO
about the present location OF Lincoln
park, We could see where the Arroyo
Peeos and the Gallinas came together
The Pecos had left its channel up
there above Coors lumber yard and
came rushing across at the Gallinas
I tell you ii was a sight, The whole
valley below was under water, and
il stayed that way for FIVE days.
On the sixth day the waters fell a
little, and | started out to get across
the river. | fixed my rope just like
| did when | crossed the San Gui
juela, and struck in about a thousand
yards above the bridge. When we
got into the current slid off and let
the mare tow me the best she could
We landed down there about where
Patty's place is now.
Twenty-Five days after that day sew
eral OF us went down to the bottom
to reconnoitre and see the condition
Of the crops. We stopped little west
of Lincoln park, where four old tramp
ing floors used to be. The circle Of
posts were still standing, but the
floors, and all the bottom for that mat
ter, were covered with foot and a
half of soil which the water had left
behind, and by measuring the drift
on those posts we found that the river
had covered the fiat there to from
five TO seven feet deep. You see, it
had rained for twenty-seven days, and
it had been no gentle shower. Up
in the mountains it was a pour
down" A great many adobes had
tumbled down--the adobe was dis
solved-and every house in town leak
ed except Buffalo hall
No, we won't probably have any
more floods like that The railroad
would hold back the arroya now, so
there's not much danger Of the two
rivers getting together there on the
fiat again They'd make II interesting
for some people If they did
Five People Burned.