The Beautiful Snow: The Ingalls Family, the Railroads, and the Hard Winter of 1880-81 by Cindy Wilson
Author:Cindy Wilson [Wilson, Cindy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beaver's Pond Press
Published: 2020-02-19T00:00:00+00:00
Flooding along the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers
Along the Missouri River, near Fort Pierre, the river had ârisen about two feetâ by the start of the month, and water was ârunning over the ice and breaking it all up.â735 The rising Missouri spurred residents of Pierre and Fort Pierre to move valuables to higher ground during the first week of the month, and by March 19, the river was reported to be five feet above normal.736 By the end of the month, the two towns were in full flood.
Papers across the region kept their readers apprised of the situation along the river. The Brookings County Press resumed operations just in time to report, âThe railroad tracks are four feet under water and the inhabitants have been obliged to take to the hills.â The editor also shared that âabout two thousand feet of the railroad trackâ had washed away near Pierre. The article did note one upside of the melting: âthe beautiful snow is fast disappearing.â737
The town of Elk Point, approximately sixty miles south of Sioux Falls, also reported flooding in early March. âWhen the wind donât blow,â wrote the editor of the Elk Point Tribune, âthe sun warms up the tops of the snow banks a little. It is thawing considerably to-day; the streets look beer-y, and water is running into cellars in some localities.â738
The worst of the flooding, however, was centered around Yankton and Vermillion. Contrary to what one might expect, the melt began well to the north, close to Pierre. The rising waters flowing downstream ran into and broke up river ice that then flowed along with the current. This caused an ice gorge, or natural dam, that backed up the floodwaters. âAt 11.30 Sunday night, Mar. 27,â wrote the Dell Rapids editor, âthe Missouri river broke up at Vermillion. A gorge was formed two miles below the city, and in less than an hour the town was from four to six feet under water.â739 There is more about this cataclysmic event in the next chapter.
To finish the meteorologically frustrating month of March, letâs take a moment to enjoy the poetic joy expressed in the Canton Advocate, reflecting on the beautiful spectacle of the night sky:
A great deal of star-gazing was indulged in by our people last Thursday evening, but the occasion was unusualânot resembling such events as transpire when the air is filled with the fragrance of new-blown roses. It was Venus in all her brilliancy walking through the heavens in an easterly direction and coming in close proximity to the moon, which presented a strange and beautiful phenomena.740
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
4 3 2 1: A Novel by Paul Auster(11074)
The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood(6874)
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin(5896)
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert(4734)
Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking by M. Neil Browne & Stuart M. Keeley(4599)
On Writing A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King(4221)
Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday(4002)
Ken Follett - World without end by Ken Follett(3981)
The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson(3816)
Bluets by Maggie Nelson(3722)
Adulting by Kelly Williams Brown(3681)
Guilty Pleasures by Laurell K Hamilton(3600)
Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy(3525)
White Noise - A Novel by Don DeLillo(3443)
The Poetry of Pablo Neruda by Pablo Neruda(3371)
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read(3320)
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald(3237)
The Book of Joy by Dalai Lama(3234)
Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock(3223)