Monday, August 19, 2013

Flooding on the Railroad Tracks


Photo courtesy: Denver Water Board. (circa - 1890s) Four men appraise the damage caused by a recent flood.
In the mid-1800s the Native American tribe of Arapaho Indians warned the settlers not to camp or build too close to the South Platte and Cherry Creek Rivers. They were told those rivers, especially at the confluence were prone to burst their banks during adverse conditions, causing devastation in their wake. Perhaps the newcomers felt they knew better than the native people because over and over, their built homes, businesses and railroads in inappropriate places regardless of the terrain.