Fresno County CA Archives History - Books .....Floods And Drouths 1892
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Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of The Counties Of Fresno, Tulare, And Kern, California

FLOODS AND DROUTHS.

  The traveler, when inquiring as to the great floods in California, and also
extreme drouths, both of which have had their disastrous effects upon this great
valley, will receive answers pro and con, as he would in all other countries,
and each enthusiast has his theory which he will insist upon as a fact. In order
that the stranger may know the exact state of affairs for all time since the
American occupation, and to refresh the memory of the old settlers, we present
an exhibit of flood and drouth periods carefully prepared, which will give the
reader all of the facts, and, as will be seen, not seeking to hide any; and this
great valley has had its share of the two extremes.

  Of the many peculiar climatic characteristics of California none are so
puzzling as those which relate to the rainfall and its effects. They set all
previously formed ideas at defiance, and the longer one seeks for some law that
governs their idiosyncrasies-for law there must be-the more hopelessly does one
become lost in a mass of contradictions. Take the question of floods, for
instance. "Their cause," some glib-tongued forestry crank will quickly exclaim,
"is easily explained. Remove the forests from the mountains and floods in the
valleys must inevitably result. It is a law of nature which cannot be
transgressed. Really, my dear sir, you insult me by asking a question whose
answer is so self-evident. Propound something more difficult, if yon please."

  But hold on. Doubtless this explanation of it is according to the text-book
theory and is a plausible explanation, too. Unfortunately, however, it conflicts
diametrically with the facts. The worst floods California bas ever experienced
occurred years before any considerable area of the forests had been destroyed.
Since tens of thousands of acres about the headwaters of the streams have been
denuded of their dense growth of trees the floods have decreased in frequency
and violence; and it has been many years since, with a single exception,
anything approaching the flood seasons of the first fifteen years' history of
the State has been seen.

  Look in another direction for information upon the subject. Ask some member of
an anti-debris association, for instance, for his opinion on the flood question,
and he will tell you it is hydraulic mining that has filled up the beds of the
streams and caused them to overflow their banks. Yet, singularly enough, the
records prove beyond cavil that the worst floods the State has experienced
occurred years before hydraulic mining was generally practiced, and that during
the palmiest days of that industry there were few disastrous overflows. The
theory and the facts are as badly at varience here as they are when forest
denudation is saddled with the blame.

  It is worth while taking a glance at the history of the floods that have
visited this State. The Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers and their
tributaries, draining the vast interior valley, are of course the streams that
are most subject to overflow. Prior to the American occupation there are records
of floods that occurred in 1805, in 1825-'26, and in 1846-'47. Doubtless there
were many other seasons of high water as well, but there being little or nothing
to injure no records were kept of such occurrences.

  The winter of 1849-'50, however, was one of excessive rainfall, the storms
commencing on November 2d, and continuing almost without cessation for six
weeks. As a result the valley was flooded and the city of Sacramento was covered
with water to a depth of four feet. In January another great storm flooded the
city, and in March and April another overflow was threatened, but was prevented
by the energetic construction of dams.

  This experience led to the construction of levees, upon which a large amount
of money was expended, but they were ineffectual, and in 1852, 1853 and 1854
there were floods which did a tremendous amount of damage. After the last
mentioned date the levees were greatly strengthened, and the city escaped
further damage until the winter of 1861-'62, when they gave way before the
pressure of a flood and loss aggregating over $3,0.00,000 resulted. Although
threatened several times since, there has never been a flood down to the present
time which was so disastrous as this.

  In the Yuba river floods occurred in 1849-'50, in 1852-'53, in 1861-'62, in
1866 and in 1875. In the San Joaquin river there were similar seasons of flood.
Since the great flood of 1861-'62, however, there have been no such periods of
high water, and no such losses have been suffered from this cause. It is true,
many streams overflowed their banks during the .excessive rains of the winter of
1889-'90, but the damage was mostly confined to the overflow of farm lands, and
consisted largely in the inability to put in grain crops for the season. So far
as absolute destruction of property was concerned, similar to that caused by the
floods in the first fifteen years of the State's history, there is no comparison.

  In the lower part of the State there have been occasional losses from high
water. One of the notable instances is afforded in the Santiago canon, in Los
Angeles County. When the Southern Pacific Railroad was built through that region
in 1876, some of the old Spanish settlers pointed out certain marks high up the
walls of the canon which they declared had been made by floods many years
previous. The railroad builders could hardly credit the statement, and paid no
heed to the warning, but located the line in the bed of the canon, down which
ordinarily only a slender stream trickles. Twice, however, within the last live
years have there been floods here which have literally obliterated miles of
railroad bed, ties, rails and bridges. But these floods have certainly not been
caused either by the destruction of the forests (there being none to destroy),
or the work of hydraulic miners (there being no such enterprises in that region).

  The same experience has befallen one or two streams in San Diego and San
Bernardino counties. Twice have many miles of the railroad through the Temecula
canon been destroyed by floods, while some damage has been occasioned by high
water in the Santa Ana and other streams. Yet, as a matter of fact, the
recollections of the oldest white settlers, and of the Indians as well, together
with the indelible traces left in many places, show that far worse floods
occurred prior to the general settlement of the State than have happened since.
For forty years the forests of the San Bernardino mountains have been attacked
in a constantly increasing proportion each year. Yet the streams that rise in
those mountains show no diminution in their flow, are not, in fact, subject to
as great floods as they were many years ago, and indeed furnish a greater area
with supplies for irrigation than they did twenty years ago, or was deemed
possible at that time.

  Just as there was much more loss from floods in the early years of the State's
settlement, so there was greater damage from droughts in that period, while
there has been a steady decrease in the frequency of dry seasons. The first dry
season after the American occupation was that of 1851. There being little
agriculture at that time not much loss was caused except to the cattle men, who
were dependent entirely upon the natural grasses, and in the absence of these
were compelled either to allow their stock to die or else kill them for their
hides and tallow. In 1856 occurred a drought which, while less severe than the
one in 1851, caused a greater loss among agriculturists, there being a much
larger area then under cultivation.

  Following the flood season of 1861-'62, there came, however, a drought, in
1864, the most disastrous the State has ever seen. The grain crop was almost a
total failure, while, owing to the absence of feed, cattle and sheep starved by
the hundred thousand. In some sections scarcely any were left alive out of bands
which had numbered many thousands under a single ownership, and many a man who
had been considered wealthy saw his entire fortune melt away without the power
to save even the smallest fraction.

  Seven years of plenty followed, and then in 1870-'71 came another drought,
which, however, was not so productive of ruin as the preceding one. The grain
crop was scant and much stock was lost, but there was no such general
destruction and entire loss.

  For six years thereafter there was a season of general prosperity, and it was
at this time that the southern portion of the State received its first great
"boom." Immigrants came by the thousand from the East, and vacant lands were
settled in every direction. But in 1876-'77 a drought came which was second in
its disastrous results only to that of 1864. Cattle and sheep perished in
droves. In sections that were wooded the oaks and other trees were felled by
thousands to allow the starving animals to browse on the foliage and tender
twigs. Bands of sheep numbering thousands each were abandoned by their owners to
die of starvation! Men made a business of going among the abandoned animals and
slaughtering them for the sake of their pelts. In some districts the very air
was polluted by the thousands of dead animals scattered everywhere, while the
sky was blackened with hordes of feathered scavengers hastening to their carrion
feast. Bands of sheep were sold for a bit a head, which in ordinary seasons were
worth two or three dollars, and tens of thousands of the starving animals were
killed and their bodies cooked wholesale for the sake of the little fat which
they contained. Millions of dollars were lost by the stock men, and the industry
received a set-back from which in more than one locality it never recovered.

  This was the last bad drought, however, to which California was subjected.
There have been seasons of scant rainfall since then, but no such general
destruction of crops and animals. Every year, it is true, there is the same
amount of talk about the possibility of dry seasons, short crops and all that.
But this is merely the perpetuation of an old custom. As a matter of fact
California farmers have little to fear on this score, and even the occurrence of
a season of scant rainfall has little appreciable effect upon business circles.

  The increase of irrigation has of course much to do with this state of
affairs. The fruit crop is largely independent of the rainfall, while
grain-growers have learned by experience methods which assure them a fair return
with less rain than was thought possible twenty or thirty years ago. It is
certain that this state of affairs will continue, too. Each year sees a larger
area brought under irrigation, and sees the farmers more generally emancipated
from their thraldom to the uncertain elements. With the indisputable facts that
floods and droughts are of less frequent occurrence now than in the earlier
history of the State, all branches of farming are put upon a basis of greater
certainty, and the tiller of the soil can now plow and sow with the almost
positive certainty that he will also reap an ample reward. It is not too much to
boast that in no other part of the world has the agriculturist so great an
assurance of reasonable success as in California.

  Opening out, as we did, on the physical features of the San Joaquin valley, it
seemed that we could not appropriately interrupt the thread of the recital by
the introduction of other matter. Under the head of social history we have space
for only one or two topics, as follows:


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Memorial and Biographical History
OF THE COUNTIES OF
Fresno, Tulare, and Kern, California

Illustrated
Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the
Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of
its Prospective Future: with Profuse Illustrations of its Beautiful Scenery,
Full-page Portraits of Some of its most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of
Many of its Pioneers, and also of Prominent Citizens of to-day.

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants." -Macaulay.

CHICAGO:
The Lewis Publishing Company.
Undated, but OCLC lists a publication date of 1892


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