Authentic Records of the Floods

Paul Reinhard Finds Dates And Figures Entered By His Father

Some interesting information in connection with the present high water of the Missoula river was furnished The Missoulian yesterday by Paul Reinhard, in the nature of some records of former years which had been kept by his father, the late J. P. Reinhard, one of the old-timers of Missoula. In looking over one of his father’s day books Paul discovered the following notations concerning the weather and water conditions:

“May 25, 1887. – Water high and bridge damaged.

“June 15, 1887. – Rain and warm.

“June 16, 1887. – High water, now covers old Coakley ranch and into mill door. (The Coakley ranch referred to was the Charlie Winters ranch, situated north of the river about two miles west of the city.)

“June 17, 1887. – Water at a standstill.

“June 18, 1887. – Cold and clear; water fell eight inches.”

It was during this year, 1887, that the high water mark was made on the rock work of the old grist mill and sawmill which still stands at the north end of the Higgins avenue bridge.

Tracing through Mr. Reinhard’s notations in his books of the following years, the next mention of high water is made in 1894, when he made the following entry:

“June 13, 1894. – Water four inches higher than in 1887, but that four inches only for a short time, caused by release of log dam.”

There has been much discussion, especially between the old-timers, as to when the highest water occurred in the Missoula river, some claiming that it was in 1887 and others in 1894, but these figures settle the contention and make it the latter date. However, a careful measurement was taken yesterday while the water was at its highest, and it was found to be just 18 inches above the old mark placed there in June, 1887. Charlie Winters stated that the water yesterday was just at the point which it reached in 1866, the first year he came here. It would appear from this that the Missoula river this time has reached as high a mark as has ever been recorded.

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on June 7, 1908. Part of the Higgins Bridge had just collapsed the day before.

 

Another article appearing in The Daily Missoulian on the same day gave the following:

“. . by noon excitement was at fever heat. The river banks on both sides of the Missoula were lined with people to watch the progress of the flood. All of the blocks and buildings along the water front were swarming with those anxious for a better view of the situation. They crowded at every window and climbed the fire escape to the roofs.

“Several times the crowds dispersed only to come rushing back, pell mell, at some new cry of alarm, several scares being occasioned by the reports which were continually circulated that the big log jam above Bonner had started down and that the Clark dam below was doomed. The middle span of the Higgins avenue bridge, the wooden part built over what has for years been an island, fell section by section, and each time as the crash came, which could be plainly heard throughout the city, there would be a fresh rush to the river bank. Hundreds maintained their positions of vantage for hours, and when at 2 o’clock p. m. the entire wooden portion of the bridge fell, leaving a gap between the steel spans of 275 feet, there were few people in the city but witnessed the crash.”

 

Another article stated the following:

“Telephone wires furnished absolutely the only communication between the business section of Missoula and the south side. The cable conveying wires across the river was unshaken during the day, although all possible precautions are being taken to ensure the stability of the poles that support it. The service of the telephone was surely appreciated yesterday.

“At 1 o’clock this morning the gauge at the electric light sub-station showed that the river had fallen 12 inches from the mark registered at noon.”

 

Telephone service to South Missoula was cut off the following day.

 

One of the strangest incidents occurring in conjunction with the 1908 flood was also reported in The Daily Missoulian on June 9, 1908:

Pigeons Make Great Record

Fly To Wallace And Return With Message From The Bells-Floto Circus

“That was a strange sight last evening,” said James Morrow, a well-known traveling salesman, referring to the trial record against time by carrier pigeons.

The pigeons belong to advertising car No. 3 of the Sells-Floto circus, which is held up here by the washouts and high water. There are seven pigeons in the circus flock. Another flock belongs to the La Fay sisters, who put on the Indian stunt for Billy Evans’ tent show. Vye La Faye is an adept at training pigeons to carry messages and so is Dorine La Fay, her sister. Dorine also trains and handles lions, tigers, jaguars and leopards. These girls are engaged for the Sells-Floto circus next season.

The two flocks of pigeons were permitted to fly the air together last evening from here to Wallace and return. They carried a message to Frank Tammen, manager of the circus, who sent a reply by the birds that read: “We packed them in at Wallace. We leave for Bozeman at midnight. It is a 1,000-mile run, the longest single jump ever attempted by a circus.”

The show also sent by the birds a sack containing $1,000 for the circus people in Missoula to live on. Tomorrow the La Fay sisters propose to let their pigeons carry a message to Butte, Helena and Great Falls and in this way rearrange their route and dates.

The birds last night made the fly to Wallace in 89 minutes and the return trip in 88 minutes. This is faster than the steam cars and even pales into insignificance the record of the elephant “Waddy” that Doc Waddell is riding over the country.

The 1,000 loaves of bread the Garden City bakery of the south side contracted to furnish the Sells-Floto circus had it came today were sold to the Northern Pacific railroad and the railroad people brought it to this side of the river by means of hand cars and cable line, the most novel mode of transporting bread since the rain of manna in biblical times. “Had the circus transported this bread,” said Doc Waddell, “elephants or carrier pigeons would have been used.”

 

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on June 9, 1908.

 

Biblical Sidelights

Reporting of Missoula’s 1908 Flood had aspects to it that were not normally seen in the local papers. In some of the Flood articles the reporter submitted to Biblical references to evoke the enormity of the calamity. Nature’s havoc was hitting very close to home and the writing sometimes referred to scripture to explain it. Bread from heaven arrived by means of railroad hand cars and carrier pigeons performed mythical feats. If panic was rampant, it wasn’t limited to citizens whose lives were disrupted in ways we can hardly understand nowadays. As the report above demonstrated, these perilous times seemed to call for divine intervention and a tiny article in The Daily Missoulian found evidence that it might already have been at work.

 

Boy To The Rescue Of East Side People

For several days the people of the east side have been cut off from their supply of drinking water. Yesterday little Arthur Milbrodt discovered a beautiful spring of sparkling water at the foot of Jumbo. Some of the east side people say that Moses must have been at the foot of Jumbo yesterday and smote the rock with his rod.

The supply is said to be large enough to furnish the entire east side with drinking water.

The article above appeared in The Daily Missoulian on June 9, 1908

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349238224