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| The Independent - 4/21/1858 |
The above article is from the April 21, 1858 edition of The Independent; a newspaper once published in Harrisonburg.
Showing posts with label Floods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Floods. Show all posts
March 19, 2016
1858 Flooding in Catahoula Parish
August 30, 2015
Flooding of the Mighty Mississippi, Part 8 - The Flood of 1950
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| Mississippi River at Natchez, Mississippi - 2014 |
Flood History on the Lower Mississippi:
The Mississippi River at New Orleans would reach its highest flood crest since the completion of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, topping out at 19.98 ft. on February 10th, ranking 7th highest stage recorded at New Orleans. The crest at Reserve of 25.60 ft. is the 3rd highest all time.
The Bonnet Carre Spillway had all 350 bays opened for 38 days. Donaldsonville had 9th highest crest at 32.20 ft. on March 4th; Baton Rouge 9th highest crest at 42.98 ft. on March 4th; Red River Landing 10th highest crest at 57.19 ft. on March 4th.I first wrote about the construction and design of the Bonnet Carre Spillway in Part 6 of this series on the flooding of the Mississippi River. References to this spillway can also be found in Part 7.
In 1950, the impact of the overflow from the mighty river was felt in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. Within the state of Louisiana, Catahoula and Concordia parishes were the hardest hit.
From the February 16, 1950 edition of the Anniston Star in Anniston, Alabama:
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| Anniston Star - 2/16/1950 |
The Austin Sunday American Statesman of Austin, Texas reported the following on February 19, 1950:
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| Austin Sunday American Statesman - 2/19/1950 |
The flooding of 1950 also put the Louisiana Hog Dog back to work.
While residents of Catahoula Parish endured more flooding in the twenty years following 1950, these floods were mostly due to heavy local rainfall which resulted in the overflow of smaller, nearby rivers and lakes.
Major flooding of the Mighty Mississippi would impact Catahoula Parish again in 1973.
*This post is part eight in a series of posts in which an attempt will be made to document the history of flooding in Catahoula Parish caused by the overflow of the Mighty Mississippi River. Occurrences will be presented using maps, newspaper articles, photographs and reports from the State Library of Louisiana and other collections from the sources linked below each post.
July 13, 2015
Louisiana Hog Dogs Back to Work - 1950
The following article appeared in the March 31, 1950 edition of the Altoona Mirror in Altoona, Pennsylvania:
Transcription:
Louisiana Hog Dogs Are Put Back to Work
By William Johnston
Transcription:Louisiana Hog Dogs Are Put Back to Work
By William Johnston
Jonesville, La.--The floods brought a new moment of glory back for the hog days of Catahoula parish, a vanishing breed that is the pursued instead of the pursuer.
Once more the dogs were out in the pecan and oak woods, looking for droves of hogs, turned out to fatten on the pecans and acorns, and wild after a few months of freedom.
As soon as the dogs found a drove of hogs they started nipping at the meanest looking boars they could find. It was for the good of the hog, which would have drowned if the floods caught them.But the boars, with savage grunts, took out after the dogs with all the sows, shoats and pigs following them. The dogs led the hogs into pens and jumped into the clear on the other side.
Farmers closed the gates in the pens. Thus some thousands of hogs were saved from the floods. The renaissance of the hog dogs brought a touch of nostalgia back to Allen J. Swayze, aged 75, a retired Catahoula parish stockman.
Three generations ago there were three big families in Catahoula, the Swayzes, McMillans [McMillins] and Alexanders, and they probably developed the hog dog.
Thirty years ago the Swayzes, McMillans [McMillins] and Alexanders owned 30,000 hogs among them. Everybody in Catahoula parish doesn't own that many hogs now.
"All this high water and the bad feeding just don't make woods hog raising as good as it was," Swayze said. "They still got a few dogs that can work hogs. But nothing like we used to have."
"A good hog dog might be yellow or leopard or have dark blue spots on a white or gray coat--look something like a hound, weigh about 60 or 70 pounds."
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| Altoona Mirror - 3/31/1950 |
"But a good hog dog won't have any hound blood at all. Hound blood ruins a good hog dog, makes him timid. They ain't exactly a breed. We just call them curs. But the best ones usually have glass (light colored) eyes."
"You have to train a hog dog a little. But he takes natural to finding and driving woods hogs."
"I guess the best ones I ever had were a female named Tollie and a couple of males, Ring and Drummer. Two or three of us neighbors would saddle up and take the dogs out in the swamp. Tollie was a good find dog. She'd locate a herd on a ridge and start circling."
"No barking, like hounds, unless we on the horses didn't know where they were. Then the dogs would bay. Drummer was my driving dog. When the herd was pretty well gathered up, I'd yell at Drummer to get up front and start moving them."
"Drummer would nip and the boars and lead sows and all those hogs would rally, their tails rubbing and their faces pointed outward. They'd lunge at Drummer and he'd take off in the direction we wanted to go. Tollie and Ring would be follow dogs."
"If a hog tried getting out of the herd, he'd get chased back. We'd move along like that as much as five miles. Two dogs can handle as many as 100 hogs and not lose a single one."
June 19, 2015
The Jonesville Lock & Dam
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| Entrance to Jonesville Lock and Dam - May, 2015 |
The Jonesville Lock and Dam was constructed in 1972 by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and is located in Catahoula Parish on highway 124 south of Jonesville. This lock and dam is part of the Ouachita-Black Rivers Navigation Project which began in 1902 and covers 337 miles of waterway from Camden, Arkansas to Jonesville, Louisiana.
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| Jonesville Lock and Dam - May, 2015 |
The Ouachita River originates in Polk County, Arkansas as a small stream in the Ouachita Mountains. It travels south toward Hot Springs, Arkansas where it flows into Lake Ouachita before continuing its southward journey into Louisiana. The Ouachita River joins the Tensas and Little Rivers at Jonesville where the Black River is then formed. The Black River meets the Red River forty-one miles south of Jonesville.
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| Original Map from Ouachita River Foundation |
A lift from 12-30 feet allows a minimum 9-foot deep and 100-foot wide navigation channel needed by barge traffic to travel from the Red River to Camden, Arkansas.
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| Jonesville Lock and Dam - May, 2015 |
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| Entering the Jonesville Lock and Dam area - May, 2015 |
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| Swollen Black River at Jonesville Lock and Dam - May, 2015 |
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| Bend in the River before heading south to Jonesville Lock and Dam - May, 2015 |
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| Swollen Black River at Jonesville Lock and Dam - May, 2015 |
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| Livestock on the banks of Black River at Jonesville Lock and Dam - May 2015 |
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| Recreational Area at Jonesville Lock and Dam - May, 2015 |
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| Exiting the Jonesville Lock and Dam area - May, 2015 |
Sources:
Ouachita River Foundation
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
May 31, 2015
Flooding of the Mighty Mississippi, Part 7 - The Flood of 1945
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| Mississippi River at Natchez, Mississippi - 2015 |
Flooding of the Mighty Mississippi dealt another blow to the state of Louisiana during the early months of 1945. Central portions of the state saw 7,488,000 acres of rich farm land and stock raising areas under water.
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| Taylor Daily Press (TX) - 4/4/1945 |
The Bonnet Carre Spillway was opened on March 23 and remained open through May 18. This was the second time the spillway had been opened since its completion in 1931 and the first time that all 350 bays were eventually opened; allowing 318,000 cubit feet of water per second to pass through.
While the opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway saved the city of New Orleans, other parts of Louisiana were less fortunate.
Catahoula Parish was faced with the overflow from the Mississippi, Ouachita and Black rivers. Jonesville was reported to have been surrounded by flood waters. Harrisonburg became isolated and the Coast Guard was sent in to rescue people from roof tops.
An article published in the Monroe News Star on April 17 reported that the Ouachita River showed signs of dropping. However, as the article goes on to state, Catahoula and Concordia parishes continued to face backwater flooding.
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| MNS - 4/17/1945 |
"The backwater, rising rapidly, has covered nearly the entire residential section of Ferriday, coming up as far as the post office in the business section of the city. All of the mill section, colored quarters and the Interstate Natural Gas Company area have been under water for some time past."
"At the Red Cross headquarters a large crew is working to alleviate suffering and to take care of those moved out by the water. Guards are still on duty at Jonesville, which has been isolated by floodwaters. Around Harrisonburg, guardsmen are working with the Red Cross and families are tented along hills from Sicily Island to White Hall and Jena."
The Port Arthur News of Port Arthur, Texas reported on April 25, that an appeal had been made by local officials to U. S. Army engineers to open the Morganza floodway to help drain off flood waters which had covered the parishes of Concordia, Tensas and Catahoula.
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| Port Arthur News - 4/25/1945 |
Construction of the Morganza Spillway began in the late 1930s. The control structure was not completed until 1954. The flood control act of congress stated that waters were not to be diverted through the Atchafalaya floodway by the opening of the Morganza Spillway until all improvements had been completed in the Atchafalaya floodway. Those improvements had not been completed at the time of the 1945 flood.
Despite the flood control act of congress, a congressional delegation toured the Morganza floodway and determined that the opening of the floodway would "bring little relief to already inundated areas and great harm to southern Louisiana."
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| Mary, Willie and Tim Cupit - Catahoula Parish, 1945 (courtesy of Pam Twiner Thompson) |
*This post is part seven in a series of posts in which an attempt will be made to document the history of flooding in Catahoula Parish caused by the overflow of the Mighty Mississippi River. Occurrences will be presented using maps, newspaper articles, photographs and reports from the State Library of Louisiana and other collections from the sources linked below each post.
May 11, 2015
Flooding of the Mighty Mississippi, Part Six - The Great Flood of 1937
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| Mississippi River at Natchez, MS - 2014 |
Ten years after residents of Catahoula Parish experienced the horrific impact of the 1927 flood, they were faced with yet another great flood.
Officials in Catahoula Parish began their preparations as early as February 6 as seen in the article below from the Biloxi Daily Herald in Biloxi, Mississippi.
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| Biloxi Daily Herald - 2/6/1937 |
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| MNS - 2/14/1937 |
Across the river at Harrisonburg, Rhinehart, Ferriday, Vidalia, Jonesville and other places, the flood sufferers are also being afforded homes and food, medical attention, and should the need arise, concentration camps will be established at Natchez which can care for 10,000 persons, and at Rhinehart and Harrisonburg, in the hills of Catahoula parish, where thousands can be cared for in the event a major disaster takes place.
From the Blytheville Courier News in Blytheville, Arkansas on February 18, 1937:
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| Blythevile Courier - 2/18/1937 |
The Red Cross reported here today that plans were being made to evacuate approximately 25,000 persons in Concordia parish-Catahoula parish, Louisiana areas due to a crevasse which has developed in the levee protecting the area from Mississippi river back waters.
Around 12,400 persons would be affected by the evacuation plans in the Concordia parish area and 12,200 in the Catahoula parish area, the Red Cross said.
The Biloxi Daily Herald reports the following on February 18, 1937:
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| Biloxi Daily Herald - 2/18/1937 |
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| Privies under construction by the Louisiana WPA at Rhinehart, Catahoula Parish - 1937 |
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| Refugee camps near Harrisonburg, Catahoula Parish - 1937 |
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| Boxcars where refugees lived in Rhinehart, Catahoula Parish - 1937 |
The Great Flood of 1937 tested the Bonnet Carre Spillway for the first time since its completion in 1931.
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| Bonnet Carre Spillway |
The spillway was built following the flood of 1927.
Located in St. Charles Parish, the spillway is 5.7 miles in length and runs from the Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain. It is opened when the river gauge threatens to top twenty feet north of New Orleans near Carrollton.
Cranes lift the 8"x12" wooden beams within the bays which allows 250,000 cubic feet of water per second to pass through the spillway.
There are up to 7,000 wooden beams within the bays of the Bonnet Carre Spillway.
Of the 350 bays, 285 were opened for forty-eight days between February and March of 1937.
Flood waters began receding in areas of Catahoula Parish on March 25, 1937.
The Bonnet Carre Spillway has only been opened nine times since it was built.
The National Red Cross Report on the Relief Efforts during the flood of 1937:
In Louisiana alone in 1937, approximately twenty-five thousand (25,000) persons, driven from their homes by flood waters, were cared for by the National Red Cross. The largest group of these refugees was in the Jonesville area, where some fifteen thousand (15,000) persons were registered and received relief. Driven from their homes by rising backwaters, these people were mainly from the Parishes of Catahoula, Concordia, LaSalle and Rapides.
The work of evacuating refugees was in the main accomplished by CCC boys under the direction of Red Cross officials. Where it was necessary to erect housing facilities, the work was done by Works Progress Administration workers, also under the direction of the Red Cross.
Throughout all its work of rehabilitating refugees in the southern area, the Red Cross has sought to keep the family intact. In all refugee camps, therefore, families have been kept together; and housing facilities have been created with this object in mind.
Moreover, in nearly all cases where refugees had been evacuated, the latters' household furnishings were taken out at the same time.
*This post is part six in a series of posts in which an attempt will be made to document the history of flooding in Catahoula Parish caused by the overflow of the Mighty Mississippi River. Occurrences will be presented using maps, newspaper articles, photographs and reports from the State Library of Louisiana and other collections from the sources linked below each post.
May 2, 2015
Flooding of the Mighty Mississippi, Part Five - The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
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| 1927 Flood Map |
In an earlier post from November 17, 2012 I documented the impact of the flood of 1927 on Sicily Island.
Other areas of Catahoula Parish and surrounding parishes were not as fortunate as Sicily Island during this disastrous flood.
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| 1927 Flood Map |
Louisiana Folklife contributor, Betty Jo Harris, wrote the following:
Jonesville, located in Catahoula Parish, suffered some of the worst water in the state. On 1 July, the Tensas Gazette reported, "The town of Jonesville, once the pride of Catahoula Parish and a thriving little metropolis has been stricken by the hand of the greatest river flood of all time in a manner that is truly unbelievable" (Tensas Gazette 1927b). The paper observed that the town was a veritable wreck due to the water which measured 15 feet in some areas.
From the Catahoula Parish History website we find a 1927 photograph contributed by Barbara Dener of mail being handed out an upstairs window of the Post Office/Ford House:
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| Jonesville, Catahoula Parish, Louisiana - 1927 Flood |
From the Northeast Louisiana Historic Images Collection we find a 1927 photograph of St. Joe in nearby Tensas Parish:
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| St. Joe, Tensas Parish, Louisiana - 1927 |
GenDisasters has the following report about the 1927 flood's impact on Catahoula Parish and its neighboring parishes:
Thousands of people fled the flooded areas in search of higher ground. Refugee camps were set up in the Catahoula communities of Harrisonburg, Rhinehart and Sicily Island. In an article from the May 12, 1927 edition of the Miami News we learn of the outbreak of Smallpox in these camps.
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| Miami News - 5/12/1927 |
GenDisasters gives the following timeline and summary of the Flood of 1927:
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States.
The flood began when heavy rains pounded the central basin of the Mississippi in the summer of 1926. By September, the Mississippi's tributaries in Kansas and Iowa were swollen to capacity. On New Year's Day of 1927, the Cumberland River at Nashville topped levees at 56.2 feet.
The Mississippi River broke out of its levee system in 145 places and flooded 27,000 square miles. The area was inundated up to a depth of 30 feet. The flood caused over $400 million in damages and killed 246 people in seven states.
The flood affected Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Arkansas was hardest hit, with 14% of its territory covered by floodwaters. By May 1927, the Mississippi River below Memphis, Tennessee, reached a width of 60 miles.
By August 1927, the flood subsided. During the disaster, 700,000 people were displaced, including 330,000 African-Americans who were moved to 154 relief camps.
*This post is part five in a series of posts in which an attempt will be made to document the history of flooding in Catahoula Parish caused by the overflow of the Mighty Mississippi River. Occurrences will be presented using maps, newspaper articles, photographs and reports from the State Library of Louisiana and other collections from the sources linked below each post.
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