Lost In A Cloud Burst

Submitted by: NelliBlu28@aol.com

 

Taken from History of Natrona County, Wyoming 1910

Samuel Harrison was the brother of my GG-grandfather Richard E. Harrison of Beemer, Cuming County, Nebraska. This is the story of the flood that killed two of his children in 1895.

"A tremendous cloudburst occurred on Casper mountain at the head of Garden Creek, at about nine o'clock Tuesday night, July 30, 1895, and a sea of water twenty feet deep came thundering down into the valley, carrying with it large boulders, logs, and debris of all kinds, and the terrific force of the current left death and destruction in its path.

Dark clouds commenced to gather over the mountainside early in the evening, and at first there was quite a heavy rainfall which increased in its fury until the terrific downpour lashed the trees and the rocks and the winds buffeted the living creatures along the foothills of the mountains and in the valleys below, and between the gusts one could hear the wail of the storm-tossed trees and the distant roar of the flood foaming across the lands.

In the little town of Casper the sound of the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the downpour of the rain were terrific for several hours. It was fully an hour after the storm had abated before the people of Casper were apprised of the terrible disaster that had been caused by the storm.

A freighter named Newby and his family were camped just south of the CY gate, about two miles south of Casper, and as they were in bed when the cloudburst occurred, the water was upon them before they realized they were in danger. Mrs. Newby and her child were carried away in the flood, but the husband and father escaped by clinging to a log.

Samuel Harrison and his family were camped near Newby, and two of his small children, a boy and a girl, were carried away. Mrs. Harrison escaped with one of her children in her arms, but Mr. Harrison was carried down the stream over a hundred yards until he caught hold of the trunk of a tree and hung on until the force of the torrent was past.

Others who camped in the path of the torrent were E. E. Iiams, Ed Kerns, James Smith, Fred Seely and Frank Arbiter, most of whom were freighters, and their entire outfit was carried away and dashed to splinters on the boulders. Along the path was scattered wreckage of every description, clothing, bedding, groceries, pieces of wagons and harness.

Those who escaped with their lives were clad only in their night clothes and they suffered a great deal from exposure. The people of Casper, however, furnished them with clothing and food, and in the morning nearly every man in the town went out to the scene of the disaster to assist in the search of the bodies that had been carried with the flood.

The remains of the Harrison children were recovered along the banks half a mile below where they were camped, and the body of Mrs. Newby was found covered with wreckage, and her baby was found close to the bank in a tree a considerable distance below. The remains of the three children and the lady were brought to Casper and placed in the town hall where the ladies of Casper dressed them and prepared them for burial.

Everything possible was done to assist the surviving unfortunates; they were supplied with the necessities of life; houses were furnished the families; the men were provided with employment and except for the loss of life, it was not long until all had fully recovered from their terrible experience."

The graves of the Harrison children are in the Highland Cemetery in Casper, Wyoming. Tombstone photos can be viewed at Family Tombstones http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~irishrose/tombstones/familytombs.html

Rooting for the past --Kathie Harrison
Thunder is good. Thunder is impressive.
But it's the lightning does the work. ~Mark Twain

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