Great Flood of 1881 facts for kids
The Great Flood of 1881 was a huge flood that happened along the Missouri River in the spring of 1881. It started near Pierre, South Dakota and moved downstream. Many towns were hit, including Yankton, South Dakota, Omaha, Nebraska, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Nebraska City, Nebraska, and Kansas City, Missouri. The flood lasted from April 1 to April 27, 1881. This event was the first time people wrote detailed reports about flooding on the Missouri River. It also caused a lot of damage, costing millions of dollars, which was a huge amount of money back in 1881!
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What Caused the Flood?
The winter of 1880-1881 had a lot of snow, much more than usual. Then, in March 1881, the weather stayed very cold. But during the last week of March, the temperature suddenly went up. All the melting snow in the Dakotas, which are north of Nebraska, poured into the Missouri River. This caused the river to rise very quickly.
John Hilger, who lived in Pierre, South Dakota, described the flood. He said the snow melted very fast. The river rose quickly, and ice got stuck a short distance downstream from the town. This pushed the water into the low-lying areas and flooded the town with four to six feet of water. People who didn't have two-story houses had to move to higher ground.
How Omaha and Council Bluffs Were Affected
Downtown Omaha, Nebraska was flooded up to 9th Street, and Council Bluffs, Iowa was flooded just as much. The river stayed very high for several weeks. At its worst, the flood was reported to be five miles (8 km) wide!
Omaha's shipping businesses were badly damaged. Many industrial buildings, trade centers, and docking areas were ruined or completely destroyed. The total damage from this flood was said to be "in the millions" of dollars. For 1881, that meant it was a truly massive flood.
Sadly, two people lost their lives in Omaha during the flood. Three workers from the Union Pacific Railroad were trying to cross a broken temporary dam in a small boat. The river's strong current pulled their boat into the main channel. Two of the men jumped out and drowned. The Omaha Bee newspaper reported on the flood every day from April 2 to April 13.
How Lake Manawa Was Formed
After the flood in the area south of Council Bluffs, the Missouri River changed its path. It made a big loop, leaving behind an old channel filled with calm water. This body of water, which covered about 400 acres, later became Lake Manawa. Today, Lake Manawa is a popular place for fun activities in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area.
Impact on Nebraska City and Eastport
As the river rose, people tried to save the lowlands of Iowa along the Missouri River. By April 9, the steamboat ferry Lizzie Campbell had trouble landing passengers at Nebraska City, Nebraska because the water was so deep. Passengers could only get off by using a cart.
By April 11, all the low-lying areas in Iowa were under water. By the middle of May, the river had reached its highest point ever recorded in Nebraska City and Fremont County, Iowa. When the water finally went back to normal, the river's path had changed a lot.
Flood Timeline
- April 1
On the morning of April 1, news came from Yankton, South Dakota. The Missouri River there had risen thirty-five feet, causing some deaths and destroying the lowlands. The railroads got warnings from places further north. They told people in the river bottoms to leave. The railroads moved their trains and equipment to higher ground.
- April 6
On the afternoon of April 6, a temporary dam around riverfront businesses in Omaha broke. During this time, the Omaha Smelting Works and Union Pacific Shops were almost completely covered by water. The next morning, the floodwaters reached their highest point at 23.5 feet (7.2 meters). This was two feet higher than ever recorded on the river before. The Missouri River also became five miles (8 km) wide, covering all the lowlands around Omaha and Council Bluffs.
- April 9
On the morning of April 9, the North Western Railroad levee (a protective wall) that protected Council Bluffs from the river broke. Water spread over the west and south parts of the city. An unknown man rode a horse through the south part of the city to warn people when the levee broke. Rescue shelters were set up everywhere, and "any suitable building was opened to the people who had to leave their homes."
After that, the area from Ninth Street in Council Bluffs west to Omaha, and from Carter Lake south past the Union Pacific Shops, looked like "a sea." Houses and small buildings looked like islands. Boats and large pieces of wooden sidewalks were used to help people, and the people operating them earned good money.
- April 12
The water started to go down on April 12. Railroads immediately began clearing and fixing their tracks. Families went back to their homes to start cleaning up the water. However, on April 22, the river started rising again, about a foot an hour! This caused people to move to higher ground once more. This time, when the river overflowed, the water spread to Eighth Street and Broadway in Council Bluffs. Houses, trees, and farm animals were seen floating down the river.
- April 25
The Union Pacific Shops were still flooded as the river rose another two inches. A riverfront packinghouse and the Willow Springs Distilling Company were flooded, along with many smaller businesses by the river. About 1,600 workers lost their jobs because of the flood. In Council Bluffs, 600 people became homeless, and more than half of the city was under water. In the weeks before, the Elkhorn River valley was also flooded. The entire town of Waterloo, Nebraska had to be abandoned because of the high water.
Cleaning Up After the Flood
The river finally started to go down for good on April 27, and families returned to their homes again. General Grenville M. Dodge, who was the chief engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad, had his employees ride through the flooded areas to rescue cattle. The river dropped 10 inches (250 mm) on April 27.
