Old Missoula

Missoula’s Worst Flood Strikes in June of 1908

The waters of the Clark Fork River reached the highest point in Missoula’s history in June 1908.

The muddy waters, swollen by 33 days of rain, carried with them the means of transportation and communication between the south and north banks of the river.

Flood Divides City

June 5, 1908, the center span was torn loose by the raging waters. Two days later the south span washed out at 6 a.m. The sun shone for the first time in a month on that day on a city which contained two isolated sections. The waters had carried everything in their path including homes, horses, the Vine Street Bridge and approaches to the county bridge.

Telegraph services were interrupted and railroads and highways were closed. Several men, stranded at Garrison, hiked to Missoula, arriving six days later muddy and bedraggled. As was the case with the Clark Fork River in Missoula, no bridges were left on Grant Creek, according to Capt. Parker, who made the trip to town on foot.

Bears Rescued

City Clerk J. W. Kemp rescued the bears in Greenough Park Zoo which had become a lake. About 200 feet below the Cedar (East Broadway) Street Bridge over Rattlesnake Creek, a large tree surrounded by water bore a sign: “No campers Allowed Here.”

With the spans of the Higgins Avenue Bridge went power and telephone lines cutting the South Side from all communication. The telephone company hurriedly strung a wire across the river and put emergency phones in the Mix Store in the 200 block on South 3^rd street and in the Healy, Inch and Wiseman homes. The city fire engine pumped water out of the machinery room of the steam-electric plant to keep some electric circuits going.

Many worked heroically to restore communication, transportation and the comfort of stranded families. Three enterprising men were operating a rowboat ferry service across 500 yards of water. In order to close the 275-foot gap in the Higgins Avenue Bridge, power and light company workers constructed a suspension or cable bridge from the edge of the torn bridge span to the south bank of the river. At first only the daring used the suspension bridge.

Others preferred to wait until a more permanent structure was built. Suspension spans provided the most vivid memory of the flood. The link was called the “bounding bridge.” It swayed from side to side and when several persons accidentally fell into step it swung up and down.

Northern Pacific train service had been completely disrupted. The NP was using four big pile drivers to repair damage. The Milwaukee was still under construction and almost all of the new grade between Butte and Missoula was washed out.

Flood Strands Tigers

The Tacoma Tigers of the Northwest League, stranded in Missoula, played Broman’s semipros and won 6-4 despite loaning two pitchers to the local team. An ardent circus fan, Claude Elder, resident of Missoula since 1891, recalled that the advertising car of the Sells-Floto Circus, which traveled in advance of the show, was caught in Missoula. The circus eventually canceled its dates in Montana.

O. C. Garlington, resident of Missoula since 1899, recalled that the Missoulian tried to persuade him to use his boat to carry papers across to the South Side. “The way the water was I wouldn’t do it for $1, 000,” Garlington said.

The flood was well recorded photographically. It happened that a traveling stereoscope photographer, N. A. Forsyth of Butte, was stranded in Missoula. He and Garlington, who used a 5 by 7-inch glass plate camera, were able to get dramatic shots of the flood.

Reitz Begins Rebuilding

As the waters began to recede the difficult problem of reconstruction faced Missoulians. Eager to have travel resumed across the river was Prof. Edward C. Reitz, who headed the Garden City Commercial College, which was located on south 4^th street west where the Babs Apartments are now. He called upon Mayor John M. Keith to discuss circulation of a popular subscription list to raise funds for such construction. At that time the city did not have the necessary funds. Mayor Keith approved the plan and by 7 p.m. on his first day of calling, Reitz had taken subscriptions of $1,100 and with six weeks he had accumulated $9,000. Most Missoula companies subscribed $25 to $50 – no small sum in that day – and one company subscribed $500.

It took six to eight weeks to build the bridge and overcome final contract difficulties.

Opened Oct. 21

The bridge was finally open to foot traffic on Oct. 21, with the first wagons going across the next day. Oct. 22 also saw men at work on ruins of the Higgins Avenue Bridge which was being dismantled for removal to Van Buren street where a new bridge was under construction.

Oct. 22 was the final day of the suspension or “bounding bridge.” It had seen 140 days of use. The high water had gone down by this time and a large crowd was on hand to watch the work.

The Reitz pile bridge was used until the present Higgins Avenue Bridge was constructed months later at a cost of $110,000. Cost of the temporary bridge was $9,000 not including time donated by Reitz and other backers.

First Reactions Slight

A week before the climax of the flood hit, Missoulians spoke disparagingly of the high waters. “If you think this is high, you should have been here in ’92 or ’87,” was the tone of the remarks. One pioneer even went back to the high water of 1866.

The Missoulian of June 1 gave no evidence of concern among residents despite the continued rainy weather and the rising river. June 2 brought rumors that the power dam at Milltown, called the Bonner Dam, had been washed out.

By June 3 more concern was demonstrated. Crowds were lined on the Higgins Avenue Bridge watching the crazed waters, although Police Chief Miller warned them not to overload the bridge.

It was not until June 5 that the flood situation was termed serious.

After June 7 residents had no doubt as to which was the worst flood in Missoula.