Rocky Ford enterprise., 1904-05-27

Two ueetha-Jonu oWeu Ano nouStt
Strauss
Tho report says: Tho foregoing ia
bio OF Losses between the two cities u
N made by Q News reporter who
worked up from Greeley to Fort Col
lins yesterday on horseback. keeping
as near as possible to tho center OF the
flooded area
Il was the frst successful attempt To
traverse this section that has been
made since tho flood swept fortunes be-
fore Il. Even then. however. Il was
necessary To swim the river and re-
turn At times through aeids OF mud and
mire to tho highroad which runs along
tho east biun limo Of the valley. to
make any headway.
Estimates Of tho farmers on the los
In crops that cannot bo replaced this
yc1 sanEs isom 81 .oo0. 900 to $1,000 .ooo.
but moro conservative figures dx tho
loss q little less than Si.Ooo.0oo.
Tho heaviest loss In crops u near
Greeley. where the vast suion fields are
destroyed.
From Fort Collins 10 Greeley vas .
stretch OF thirty miles Of fertile plant
ed land, ranging from q mile to four
miles In width. all OF which vas swept
and devastated Of all vegetation. No
richer farming arca Of this proportion
exists anywhere. and Il Is hard TO ssti.
mate tho loss In crops.
The farmers were out to-day IN wad-
Ing boots. collecting such household
goods as fortune had ioft on their
ground Some Of them lost wagon
loads Of goods. which wefc scattered all
the way 10 points below ores,cy. Hay
stacks from . farm near Fort Collina
were noated intact To points below New
Windsor. A four-room frame house
was lifted bodily from the ranch Of II.
c. MccicnAhAn. seven miles this side
Of Greeley. and deposited BY tho nood
In Q grove Of trees on the farm Of LIse
Evans half q mile away. The food
made general Interchange OF proper
~. real and personal. that was not do
stroyed.
Great suffering among horses and
cattle is experienced. The pasture
lands where stock ranged and kept fat
arc swept clean OF vegetation. Some os
tho fields arc yet under water. and the
horses and cattle are imprisoned be-
yond human aid. standing In water
which, In some instances. reaches TO
their bodics. Hundreds Of others
founder about In ten TO thirty inches
Of giuc-iikc aiiuvium. which holds their
feet In its clutches until they fall.
Then they must lie hopeless until aid
comes. which cannot be for days A. .
rule.
In the lower end OF the valley the
damage was worse a. . general thing
than Il was above. True. the flood
spread out over n greater area. but It's
volume was great enough to sweep cv-
erything but the best anchored houses
before II. and that was enough. Had Il
been a wall Of water thirty feet high
instead OF twelve. as was the case
when II reached Greeley. the damage
would not have been mucn more. but
there would have been terrible loss
of life. especially at all OF the settle
ments. a small per cent. OF the food
ed land in the lower valley was In
bccts, and some OF Il can be replantcd.
but the farmers say II Is doubtful II any
OF Il will be productive this year. and
II II should be. scarcely enough Is hold
in this class to Justify the effort. Tho
onions and grain cannot be reproduced.
Melvin Kyger. eight miles from Gree
ley counted eleven houses that floatcd
,-ast his house within an hour and
twenty minutes. Near Kyger's home
was the dugout occupied by John
Owen, an old trapper. No one thought
10 warn the old man, or perhaps no one
had time. and to-day his dugout is sub
merged. II II still stands, and he has
evidently been drowned. He was deal.