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88-599: The Great Flood of 1862 had driven away the game that sustained the Mono people and their tribal members were starving. In early April, Lieutenant Colonel William Jones received a petition from citizens of Keysville and vicinity asking military protection from Indian depredations. He forwarded the petition and notified his superiors in San Francisco of the action he was taking: CAMP BABBIT, Near Visalia, Cal., April 8, 1863. Colonel R. C. DRUM , Asst. Adjt. General, Dept. of

176-458: A 20-year-long drought. During November, prior to the flooding, Oregon had steady but heavier-than-normal rainfall, with heavier snow in the mountains. Researchers believe the jet stream had slipped south, accompanied by freezing conditions reported at Oregon stations by December 25. Heavy rainfall began falling in California as the longwave trough moved south over the state, remaining there until

264-698: A Pakanapul, lived in Weldon, California (born in 1895 and died in 1957) on the Miranda Allotment. Estefana was the daughter of Steban Miranda, the last Tübatulabal chief. Estefana knew how to harvest native tobacco , acorns , salt grass , and other native foods of the South Fork of Kern Valley and Kelso Valley areas. She knew how to make "flat round" basket used for both sifting and ceremonies. Her baskets were also used to process piñon nuts picked from Walker Pass, Kennedy Meadows, and Greenhorn Mountain areas. "Estefana

352-503: A distance of over fifty miles, there is not a blade of grass and the water unfit to be used. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, M. A. Mclaughlin, Capt., Second Cav. California Vols., Comdg. Camp Independence. Col. E. C. Drum, Assistant Adjutant-General, San Francisco, Cal. The village where the Keyesville Massacre occurred has been identified by Tubatulabal people as being on Tillie Creek , near

440-518: A district of 5,000 or 6,000 square miles, or probably three to three and a half million acres! Although much of it is not cultivated, yet a part of it is the garden of the state. Thousands of farms are entirely under water—cattle starving and drowning. From December to January 1862 the series of storms carrying high winds and heavy precipitation left city streets and sidewalks underwater. Photographs show canals in place of city streets and boats docked to storefronts. On Inauguration Day, January 10, 1862,

528-608: A force sufficient to handle any number of Indians that he will be likely to meet at that place. .... I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, WM. JONES, Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding Camp Babbitt, near Visalia, Cal. Captain Moses A. McLaughlin, commanding the expedition to Keysville, made the following report about the incident: APRIL 12-24, 1863. Expedition from Camp Babbitt to Keysville, Cal. Report of Capt. Moses A. McLaughlin, Second California Cavalry. Camp Independence, Owen's River Valley, April 21, 1863. Colonel: I have

616-526: A large lake system with many small streams. A few more powerful currents cut channels across the plain and carried the runoff to the sea. In Los Angeles County, (including what is now Orange County ) the flooding Santa Ana River created an inland sea lasting about three weeks with water standing 4 feet (1.2 m) deep up to 4 miles (6 km) from the river. In February 1862, the Los Angeles, San Gabriel , and Santa Ana Rivers merged. Government surveys at

704-465: A mild rainy pattern for the first half of December 1861. In 2012, hydrologists and meteorologists concluded that the precipitation was likely caused by a series of atmospheric rivers that hit the Western United States along the entire West Coast , from Oregon to Southern California . An atmospheric river is a wind-borne, deep layer of water vapor with origins in the tropics, extending from

792-527: A wide and flat valley at the junction of the American and Sacramento rivers. When the floodwaters entered from the higher ground on the east, the levee acted as a dam to keep the water in the city rather than let it flow out. Soon the water level was 10 feet (3.0 m) higher inside than the level of the Sacramento River on the outside. John Carr wrote of his riverboat trip up the Sacramento River when it

880-470: A year and a half. At least 4,000 people were estimated to have been killed in the floods in California, which was roughly 1% of the state population at the time. The weather pattern that caused this flood was not from an El Niño –type event. From the existing Army and private weather records, it has been determined that the polar jet stream was to the north because the Pacific Northwest experienced

968-598: Is an Owen's River Indian, but resides on Kern River, where he cultivates a farm, he speaks but little English. In Spanish he, however, makes himself well understood. From him I learned that the Tehachapies had endeavored to have him go to the war with them: that many of his own Indians had gone; that some had returned and were now in the valley, sleeping in the camps at night and hiding in the daytime; that there were many Indians there whom he did not know, either Owen's or Tehachapies. I told him to remain in camp with me and dismissed

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1056-528: Is far preferable to the Los Angeles route, an upon the former there is wood, water, and grass at easy marches. Forage can be purchased in Tulare Valley and forwarded to Keysville, from which point the Government teams can bring it to Camp Independence, having water and grass at intervals upon the road, of not more than fifteen or twenty miles, while upon the Los Angeles road from Tehachapie Canon by Walker's Pass,

1144-515: Is not closely related to other languages in that group. Unlike the related languages, the Tübatulabal most often ended in consonant sounds. They used individual names and suffixes to denote place in the family and relation to the dead. Tübatulabal have two dialects "paka'anil" and "bankalachi". Today, in Mountain Mesa, California , the Tübatulabal tribe has a Pakanapul Language Program that teaches

1232-489: Is still rapidly rising. As late as anything could be seen the mills were still standing, but the insatiate monster is still creeping up inch by inch, winding its swelling folds round the pillars and foundations of all the houses in its way, crushing and grinding them in the maw of destruction, and sweeping the broken fragments into a common vortex of ruin. All night as on the night previous, people whose homes were being invaded hurried to places of security, glad to escape even with

1320-709: The Kawaiisu , and further south the Tübatulabal had ties with Kitanemuk , Serrano , and Tataviam (Alliklik) peoples who spoke the Takic branch of Uto-Aztecan. The Tübatulabal were significant participants and go-betweens in the trade networks connecting the Great Basin, the southern deserts, the Central Valley, and the coastal groups. Compared to other tribes in the Sierra Nevada, Tübatulabal had higher status and privilege. Though

1408-549: The San Gabriel Mountains the mining town of Eldoradoville was washed away by flood waters. The flooding drowned thousands of cattle and washed away fruit trees and vineyards that grew along the Los Angeles River . No mail was received at Los Angeles for five weeks. The Los Angeles Star reported that: The road from Tejon , we hear, has been almost washed away. The San Fernando mountain cannot be crossed except by

1496-590: The Sierra Nevada range of California . They may have been the first people to make this area their permanent home. Today many of them are enrolled in the Tule River Indian Tribe . They are descendants of the people of the Uto-Aztecan language group , separating from Shoshone people about 3000 years ago. The Tübatulabal's traditional homelands extended over 1,300 square miles (3,400 km ) including

1584-549: The Tule River Tribe , Tachi Yokuts , and Tejon Indian Tribe . Tribal families shared in their basket making designs, materials, and weaving techniques. Louisa had a brother named Peter, both came from Poso Flat—a Bankalachi (Toloim) Village. Louisa was born 1865 at Poso Flat (Kern County) and died at age 95 in 1954. She was living on the Tule River Indian Reservation just prior to her death. Estefana Miranda,

1672-680: The Washington Territory (now Idaho ), the Utah Territory (now Nevada and Utah ), and the western New Mexico Territory (now Arizona ). The event dumped an equivalent of 10 feet (3.0 m) of water in California, in the form of rain and snow, over a period of 43 days. Immense snowfalls in the mountains of far western North America caused more flooding in Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico , as well as in Baja California and Sonora, Mexico

1760-557: The Willamette Valley and the rest of Western Oregon. An article in the December ;14, 1861, Oregon City Argus , described the course of the flood at Oregon City: During the month of November the rain had been falling almost continuously, and a vast amount of snow must have accumulated in the mountains... Tuesday evening a gloom settled on a scene such as probably never was witnessed in our Valley before. The ceaseless roar of

1848-534: The "paka'anil" dialect. The last fluent "paka'anil" dialect speaker was James Andreas, who died in 2009. He lived on the Miranda Allotment, located in Weldon, California. James Andreas spent his last 10 years teaching the Pakanapul Language Team the "paka'anil" dialect. The "bankalachi" dialect is similar to the "paka'anil", however, there is little known about the "bankalachi" dialect. The Tubatulabal people of

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1936-655: The California's Central Valley . Acorns , piñon nuts , and game animals were key elements in Tubatulabal subsistence. Located in the Kern Valley, the tribe had contact with the Poso Creek Yokuts to the southwest and the Tule-Kaweah Yokuts west, as well as to Western and Southern Numic speaking groups to the north and east ( Western and Eastern Mono , and Timbisha (Panamint) ). On their southern border were living

2024-463: The Central Valley reached depths up to 30 feet (9.1 m), completely submerging telegraph poles that had just been installed between San Francisco and New York. Transportation, mail, and communications across the state were disrupted for a month. Water covered portions of the valley from December 1861, through the spring, and into the summer of 1862. The rainy season commenced on the 8th of November, and for four weeks, with scarcely any intermission,

2112-584: The Columbia River and the snow in the mountains closed off supplies to the new mining towns on the Salmon River , causing starvation among the miners of Florence , cut off from December until May 1862. By early July, as the heavy burden of snow in the mountains finally melted, the runoff caused great flooding. The Boise River flooded from extremely high runoff and is believed to have been four times larger than its largest recorded flood in 1943. Flood waters made

2200-523: The Indians there congregated were for the most part strangers in the valley, and were thought to be Tehachapie and Owen's River Indians , who after seeing so many troops pass had endeavored to shield themselves from punishment by seeking the more immediate vicinity of the white settlements. After having the above statements, and learning that Jose Chico was in the neighborhood, I sent for him and two other chiefs who were known to have been friendly. Jose Chico

2288-564: The Kern River has been the home of three distinct bands which are collectively named Tübatulabal. The name Tübatulabal (“a people that go to the forest to gather tubat (piñon nuts)”) loosely translates as " pine-nut eaters." The name was given to the tribe by the neighboring Yokuts. At one point in history the Yokuts also called the Tübatulabals, "Pitanisha" (place where the rivers fork). The name for

2376-794: The Kern and South Fork Kern Rivers drainages (located in the Kern Valley area of California) extending from very high mountainous terrain in the north to about 41 miles (66 km) below the junction of the two rivers in the south. The high mountains in the north (2,500–14,500 feet [760–4,420 m]) are interspersed with lakes and meadows. The southern area (2,500–3,000 feet [760–910 m]) has three connected valleys: Kern Valley, South Fork Kern Valley, and Hot Springs Valley, where summers are hot and winters cold and rainy. The valleys are grasslands and chaparral with cacti, scrub oaks, willows, elderberry, and cottonwoods as primary vegetation with some joshua trees, junipers, piñons, oaks, and sugar pines. The valley of

2464-551: The Kern river valley have survived historical trauma. Of the three bands of the Tubatulabal, the Pahkanapul were the only ones to survive the Keyesville massacre of 1863, where 35 Tübatulabal and Mono people were killed by United States Army troops and American settlers led by Captain Moses A. McLaughlin . The Tubatulabal tribe was almost wiped out because most were adult men who died in

2552-515: The North Fork of the Kern River , now under Lake Isabella next to what is now Wofford Heights . This is used as the memorial site. 35°46′10″N 118°26′07″W  /  35.76953°N 118.43532°W  / 35.76953; -118.43532 Great Flood of 1862 The Great Flood of 1862 was the largest flood in the recorded history of California , Oregon , and Nevada , inundating

2640-543: The Pacific, San Francisco, Cal.: Sir : I have the honor herewith to forward a petition from citizens of Keysville and vicinity asking military protection from Indian depredations. Captain McLaughlin will leave this camp on the arrival of the detachment of Company E, which will accompany him to join their company at Owen's Valley . They are expected to arrive this evening, and will leave on Saturday or Sunday morning, passing by

2728-602: The Sacramento River reached a flood level of 22 feet 7 inches (6.88 m) above the low water mark, after rising 10 feet (3.0 m) during the past 24 hours. By 1861, the Sacramento flood plain had quickly become inhabited by a growing population during the Gold Rush , and had begun to serve as the central hub for Valley commerce and trade and as the home of the California State Legislature. The landscape

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2816-526: The Tübatulabal as 1,000. Erminie W. Voegelin considered Kroeber's estimate too high (Voegelin 1938:39). For the time of initial European-American settlement, around 1850, she estimated 200–300. Kroeber in 1910 reported the population of the Tübatulabal as 150. Yamamoto in 2000 estimated the population at 900. Today, a Tübatulabal tribe is seeking federal recognition. They have an office located in Mountain Mesa, California , and include descendants of several tribal families who were awarded allotment lands under

2904-537: The Willamette River from Corvallis . Neither was rebuilt. The flooding was also severe in other parts of Oregon; to the south, the Umpqua River had the greatest flood known even to the oldest Native Americans, and water was 10 to 15 feet (3.0 to 4.6 m) higher than the 1853 flood. It rose from November 3 to December 3, subsided for two days, then rose again until the 9th. At Fort Umpqua, communication upriver

2992-535: The Wool Growers Association reported that 100,000 sheep and 500,000 lambs were killed by the floods. Even oyster beds in San Francisco Bay near Oakland were reported to be dying from the effects of the immense amounts of freshwater entering the bay. Full of sediment, the silted water smothered the oyster beds. One-quarter of California's estimated 800,000 cattle were killed by the flood, accelerating

3080-554: The approach of the flood, and all escaped. In San Diego , a storm at sea backed up the flood water running into the bay from the San Diego River , resulting in a new river channel cut into San Diego Harbor . The continuous heavy downpour also changed the look of the land, the previously rounded hills were extensively cut by gulleys and canyons. To the north, in the Owens Valley , similar snow and flooding conditions as those to

3168-554: The big floods." However, the series of storms that led to the Great Flood of 1862 averaged precipitation levels that records show only occur once every 500 to 1,000 years. The geographical range of flooding in the state was noted by a traveling geologist from Yale University, William Brewer, who wrote that on January 19, 1862, The great Central Valley of the state is under water—the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys—a region 250 to 300 miles long and an average of at least 20 miles wide,

3256-590: The canyon walls as they raced up the river." The Tübatulabal are well known for their red pottery and coiled baskets. Today, many of their baskets are housed at the National Smithsonian Anthropological Archives, University of California Berkeley, California State Parks Archives, and many other museums and universities. Louisa Francisco, a Bankalachi was well known for her wonderful baskets. Some Tübatulabal families in Kern Valley are related to Francisco. Many of their ancestors married into

3344-549: The debris of the bridge at Two-Mile Bar, only a short distance up river, torn from its foundation, crashed into the Knights Ferry Bridge, crushing the truss supports and knocking it from its rock foundation. All Sacramento, excepting one street, part of Marysville, part of Santa Rosa, part of Auburn, part of Sonora, part of Nevada City, and part of Napa were under water. Some smaller towns like Empire City and Mokelumne City were entirely destroyed. Sacramento , sited at

3432-535: The east in Aurora, Nevada (see below), led to the local Paiute suffering the loss of much of the game they depended on. Cattle, newly driven into the valley to feed the miners, competed with the native grazers and ate the native wild plant crops the Paiute depended on to survive. Starving, the Paiute began to kill the cattle and conflict with the cattlemen began, leading to the subsequent Owens Valley Indian War . In March 1862,

3520-572: The end of January 1862, causing precipitation to fall everywhere in the state for nearly 40 days. Eventually, the trough moved even further south, causing snow to fall in the Central Valley and surrounding mountain ranges (15 feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada). There was an excessive amount of precipitation in November 1861 over most of Oregon, less so in the extreme northwest. It was cold enough at

3608-411: The end of the cattle-based ranchero society . One-fourth to one-third of the state's property was destroyed, and one home in eight was carried away or ruined by the flood-waters. Mining equipment such as sluices, flumes, wheels and derricks were carried away across the state. An early estimate of property damage was $ 10 million. However, later it was estimated that approximately one-quarter of

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3696-579: The following spring and summer, as the snow melted. The event was capped by an intense, warm storm that melted the heavy snow load that had accumulated during the earlier storms. The resulting snow-melt flooded valleys, inundated or swept away towns, mills, dams, flumes , houses, fences, and domestic animals, and ruined fields. It has been described as the worst disaster ever to strike California. The storms caused an estimated $ 100 million (1861 USD) in damage, roughly equal to $ 3 billion in 2021. The governor, state legislature, and state employees were not paid for

3784-453: The great flood, levee breaks and failures caused much destruction from flooding. The Transcontinental Railroad had laid tracks across the Sierra Nevada and stationed its major repair and production line in Sacramento. The Chinese workforce of over 14,000 reconstructed levees under the guidance of Charles Crocker, the head contractor for Central Pacific Railroad . In response to a weak levee system and seasonal flooding, flood plain architecture

3872-591: The greater Sacramento area. Sacramento put efforts into restructuring the city's foundation by re-channeling the American River, reinforcing the established levee system, and passing a two-decade project to raise the city above flood level. Due to the high costs associated with flood recovery, the city of Sacramento reached out to the aid of the Transcontinental Railroad Co., which was a major turning point in levee resilience and reconstruction. Prior to

3960-786: The higher elevations that much snow fell in the Cascade Range , which, when later melted by the warm rains produced a great quantity of water that flooded into the Willamette River and other streams in the Cascades. Tributaries of the Willamette originating in the Oregon Coast Range did not rise as high. A tropical depression that came in at the beginning of December produced strong, warm southerly winds in Oregon, with extremely heavy rain. Flooding

4048-423: The honor to report that in obedience to instructions dated Camp Babbitt, near Visalia, Cal., April 10, 1863, and signed Lieut. Col. William Jones, Second Cavalry California Volunteers, I left Camp Babbitt on Sunday, the 12th instant, in command of twenty-four men of Company D and eighteen men of Company E, accompanied by Lieutenants French and Daley, one 12-pounder howitzer, and four six mule Government teams, used for

4136-461: The junction of the Sacramento and American Rivers, was originally built at 16 feet (4.9 m) above low-water mark, and the river usually rose 17 to 18 feet (5.2 to 5.5 m) almost every year. The New York Times reported on January 21, 1862, that a trapper who had spent more than 20 years in California had frequently boated over the city's site, and in 1846, the water at the location was 7 feet (2.1 m) deep for sixty days. On 27 December 1861,

4224-448: The landings. Farm buildings were mostly on sites convenient to the rivers and supplies of feed for livestock. Loss of so much wheat flour and the new demand coming since 1860 from the recently opened Idaho gold fields caused a spike in its price from $ 7 to $ 12 per barrel. In the interior of Washington Territory , in what is now Idaho , the storm creating the flood in Oregon dumped its precipitation as an unprecedented snowfall. Flooding on

4312-418: The massacre. "They never seemed to blame the local whites or act vengeful towards those who had made such a change in their lives." In an interview with one of the tribe members about the massacre conducted for a study stated " That morning the soldiers killed our people it caused a lot of heartache to our people physically, emotionally, and mentally. They took away all our people who tell stories, who could read

4400-408: The normal river channel. Although large amounts of wheat and flour were swept away, some was recovered when Oregon City's Island Mill was found on Sauvie Island downriver from Portland. The nearby town of Linn City was completely destroyed by flooding and was not rebuilt. The flood destroyed the historic towns of Champoeg , site of the first provisional government in Oregon, and Orleans , across

4488-499: The north fork of the river has the Indian name of, Palegewanap or "place of the big river." The south fork of the river conversely was given the name of Kutchibichwanap Palap, or "place of the little river." The three bands that comprise the Tübatulabal tribe are (from west to east): Tübatulabal traditional culture was similar to that of the Yokuts , who occupied most of the southern half of

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4576-479: The old trail ... over the top of the mountain. The plain has been cut up into gulches and arroyos, and streams are rushing down every declivity. The plains of Los Angeles County, at the time a marshy area with many small lakes and several meandering streams from the mountains, were extensively flooded, and much of the agricultural development that lay along the rivers was ruined. In most of the lower areas, small settlements were submerged. These flooded areas formed into

4664-409: The others. I informed Doctor George , Mr. Herman, and others, citizens, that I would visit the camps early in the morning, and that they might accompany me and vouch for such Indians as they might know. Accordingly at 2 a. m. on the 19th, accompanied by a detail of twenty men of my command and Lieutenant Daley, with Jose Chico as guide, I left camp, and at dawn surrounded the camp of the Indians, which

4752-461: The rain continued to fall very gently in San Francisco, but in heavy showers in the interior. According to the statement of a Grass Valley paper, nine inches of rain fell there in thirty-six hours on the 7th and 8th inst.... the next day the river-beds were full almost to the hilltops. The North Fork of the American River at Auburn rose thirty-five feet, and in many other mountain streams the rise

4840-625: The river expand to a couple of miles wide. It washed away or covered the original route of the Oregon Trail in the river valley. California was hit by a combination of incessant rain, snow, and then unseasonally high temperatures. In Northern California, it snowed heavily during the later part of November and the first few days of December, when the temperature rose unusually high, until it began to rain. In San Francisco, there were 35 inches of precipitation in December 1861-January 1862, and almost 50 for

4928-492: The river seemed highest in the middle... From the head settlement to the mouth of the Trinity River, for a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, everything was swept to destruction. Not a bridge was left, or a mining-wheel or a sluce-box. Parts of ranches and miners cabins met the same fate. The labor of hundreds of men, and their savings of years, invested in bridges, mines and ranches, were all swept away. In forty-eight hours

5016-453: The sacrifice of all their goods. The light of Wednesday morning revealed a scene of desolation terrible in its extent no less than in its completeness. The Oregon City and Island Mills, Willamette Iron Works , Foundry and Machine Shop were all gone... Flood waters were so high that at Oregon City at the flood's crest on December 5, the steamer St. Clair was able to run the falls, and steamers were able to visit points at some distance from

5104-646: The season. There were four distinct rainy periods: The first occurred on December 9, 1861, the second on December 23–28, the third on January 9–12, and the fourth on January 15–17. Native Americans knew that the Sacramento Valley could become an inland sea when the rains came. Their storytellers described water filling the valley from the Coast Range to the Sierra. Fort Ter-Waw , located in Klamath Glen, California ,

5192-409: The shore to make a million cords of wood.... One I measured was 210 feet [64 m] long and 3 1/2 feet [1.1 m] at the little end, without the bark. The entire Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys were affected. An area about 300 miles (480 km) long, averaging 20 miles (32 km) in width, and covering 5,000 to 6,000 square miles (13,000 to 16,000 km ) was under water. The water flooding

5280-403: The stars at night, who could farm. They took away all our old traditions, our songs, our language, and our pride. It affected us a lot. Even to this day it affects us." Estimates for the precontact populations of most native groups in California have varied substantially. By two estimates, the Tübatulabal were a small to very small nation. Alfred L. Kroeber (1925:883) put the 1770 population of

5368-485: The state's eighth governor, Leland Stanford , traveled by rowboat to his inauguration building held at the State Legislature office. Much of Sacramento remained under water for 3 months after the storms passed. As a result of the flooding, from January 23, 1862, the state capital was moved temporarily from Sacramento to San Francisco. The city of Sacramento suffered the worst damage due to its levee , which lay in

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5456-453: The stream made a fearful elemental music widely different from the ordinary monotone of the Falls; while the darkness was only made more visible by the glare of torches and hurrying lights, which with the shouts of people from the windows of houses surrounded by the water, all conspired to render the hour one of intense and painful excitement. The flood has covered the highest mark of January '53, and

5544-452: The streets as tunnels leading nowhere, with hollow sidewalks, filled in entrances, trap doors, and rubble where storefronts and walkways used to be. Large wooden beams and soil brought in from surrounding areas helped to stabilize and build a foundation on top of the once-flooded city. In Southern California , beginning on December 24, 1861, it rained for 28 days in Los Angeles . In

5632-566: The sudden melt of snow by the heavy rain and onset of the flood in December 1861 on the Trinity River : From November until the latter part of March there was a succession of storms and floods... The ground was covered with snow 1 foot [30 cm] deep, and on the mountains much deeper... The water in the river ... seemed like some mighty uncontrollable monster of destruction broken away from its bonds, rushing uncontrollably on, and everywhere carrying ruin and destruction in its course. When rising,

5720-440: The surface to high altitudes, often above 10,000 feet, and concentrated into a relatively narrow band, typically about 400 to 600 kilometres (250 to 370 mi) wide, usually running ahead of a frontal boundary, or merging into it. With the right dynamics in place to provide lift, an atmospheric river can produce astonishing amounts of precipitation, especially if it stalls over an area for any length of time. The floods followed

5808-512: The surrounding deserts that they will perish by famine. A Tejon prisoner says the Tejon and Tehachapie Indians (those for whom the Government has done so much) have been engaged in both these wars, and as soon as they are tired return to the reservation. The Indian agents should be notified of this fact. If I have to send down there I will leave them very little to do, and save the Government some treasure. The route from Visalia by way of Walker's Pass

5896-460: The taxable real estate in the state of California was destroyed in the flood. The state almost had to declare bankruptcy due to the costs of the damage and the loss of tax revenue. The Carson River Basin of the eastern California and western Utah Territory (now Nevada ), suffered from a similar pattern of flooding. Flooding began in December 1861 in Carson Valley from a series of storms in

5984-474: The time indicated that a solid expanse of water covered the area from Signal Hill to Huntington Beach , a distance of approximately 18 miles (29 km). At Santa Barbara County , the narrow coastal plains were flooded by the rivers coming out of the mountains. The San Buenaventura Mission Aqueduct that was still drawing water from a tributary of the Ventura River for the town of Ventura water system,

6072-434: The transportation of rations, company property, ammunition, and forage, all of which arrived in good condition at Camp Independence, Owen's Valley, on the 24th of the same month. Distance traveled I suppose to be 250 or 275 miles. I had been instructed by Colonel Jones to investigate the Indian troubles on Kern River. On arriving at Keysville I was waited upon by several of the residents of the place, who represented that there

6160-485: The tribe followed traditional patriarchy, women had an equal voice in decisions. Marriage had to be mutually consensual, and women could practice birth control. According to the tribe's oral history , the deep crags, crevices, and crooks of the canyon moving upward (east from the mouth of the Kern Canyon) to the upper reaches of the Kern River were "created by hawk and duck as they bounced back and forth, to and from along

6248-465: The upper Carson River basin. Two feet (61 cm) of wet heavy snow fell on December 20, 1861, accumulating on the valley floor. Snow was followed by a period of very cold temperatures which froze the snow, followed by a three-day rain starting on December 25, 1861. By January 2, 1862, the town of Dayton and the area surrounding it had been flooded. Tubatulabal people The Tübatulabal are an indigenous people of Kern River Valley in

6336-544: The valley of the Trinity was left desolate. The county never recovered from that disastrous flood. Many of the mining-wheels and bridges were never rebuilt. Two years later William H. Brewer saw near Crescent City , the debris of the flood: The floods of two years ago brought down an immense amount of driftwood from all the rivers along the coast, and it was cast up along this part of the coast in quantities that stagger belief. It looked to me as if I saw enough in ten miles along

6424-459: The way of Keysville through Kern River Valley . The captain will halt a few days in the upper end of the valley, where the difficulties are said to exist, and investigate the matter, and if the position of the Indians should be found as favorable as represented, if deemed advisable will give them battle. The captain will have about forty men, with arms to arm twenty more. This, with the number of citizens that will join him from Keysville, will give him

6512-489: The western United States and portions of British Columbia and Mexico. It was preceded by weeks of continuous rains and snows that began in Oregon in November 1861 and continued into January 1862. This was followed by a record amount of rain from January 9–12, and contributed to a flood that extended from the Columbia River southward in western Oregon, and through California to San Diego , as well as extending as far inland as

6600-534: Was a large body of Indians encamped upon the North Fork of Kern River; that many of these Indians had doubtless been engaged in the war and in the depredations committed in Kern River Valley; that one man had been murdered in Kelsey Canon; that Roberts and Waldron had lost about 150 head of stock; that many other citizens had lost cattle, horses, and other property; that the roads were unsafe, and finally, that

6688-517: Was abandoned due to the damage in the area that became the separate Ventura County in 1873. In San Bernardino County , all the fertile riverside fields and all but the church and one house of the New Mexican colony of Agua Mansa , were swept away by the Santa Ana River, which overflowed its banks. A local priest rang the church bell on the night of January 22, 1862, alerting the inhabitants to

6776-516: Was almost as great. On the 9th the flood reached the low land of the Sacramento Valley . In Knight's Ferry , in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada astride the Stanislaus River , about 40 miles (64 km) east of Modesto, the town's homes, its mill, and most of its businesses were ruined by the flood. The bridge spanning the river initially withstood the flood waters but was destroyed when

6864-459: Was also an excellent horseman—she could make her horses jump side to side and jump over large dirt ditches." Their ancestral language, Tübatulabal belongs to the Uto-Aztecan language family . In the current state of the linguistics of the Uto-Aztecan family, it is classified as a branch unto itself. Tübatulabal is a Uto-Aztecan language that, although definitely part of the Uto-Aztecan stock,

6952-535: Was at one of its highest stages of flood: ... I was a passenger on the old steamer Gem , from Sacramento to Red Bluff . The only way the pilot could tell where the channel of the river was, was by the cottonwood trees on each side of the river. The boat had to stop several times and take men out of the tops of trees and off the roofs of houses. In our trip up the river we met property of every description floating down—dead horses and cattle, sheep, hogs, houses, haystacks, household furniture, and everything imaginable

7040-548: Was cut off above Scottsburg, and the river was full of floating houses, barns, rails and produce. The Coquille River swept away settlers' property and there was also great damage on the Rogue River and on other small streams." Economic losses from flood damage were severe, as the rivers in Oregon were the main routes of travel. The riverfront was the building site of mills, freight depots, and storehouses for grain and other foodstuffs. Business houses and many residences were near

7128-505: Was destroyed by the flood in December 1861 and abandoned on June 10, 1862. Bridges were washed away in Trinity and Shasta counties. At Red Dog in Nevada County, William Begole reported that from December 23 to January 22 it rained a total of 25.5 inches (650 mm), and on January 10 and 11 alone, it rained over 11 inches (280 mm). At Weaverville , John Carr was a witness to

7216-420: Was heaviest on rivers with tributaries arising from the snow-covered Cascade Range. The crest of the Willamette flood was reached at Salem on December 3; at Oregon City on the 4th; at Milwaukie , between Oregon City and Portland , on the 5th; at Albany on December 8. The crests at Albany and Salem were the highest ever known at any time. In Oregon, the flood was one of the largest in the recorded history of

7304-469: Was incorporated in residential infrastructure, evident in Victorian buildings throughout Midtown to Downtown Sacramento. Flood design includes raised front porches with stairs leading down to the street. In addition, small hollow spaces are built into the basement level to allow for basement flooding and aeration. Old Town Sacramento was raised 15 feet above flood level. Ruins of the old city remain underneath

7392-460: Was necessary, and I feel certain that a few such examples will soon crush the Indians and finish the war in this and adjacent valleys. It is now a well-established fact that no treaty can be entered into with these Indians. They care nothing for pledges given, and have imagined that they could live better by war than peace. They will soon learn that they have been mistaken, as with the forces here they will soon either be killed off, or pushed so far in

7480-499: Was on its way for the ocean. Arriving at Red Bluff, there was water everywhere as far as the eye could reach, and what few bridges there had been in the country were all swept away. Dozens of wood houses, some two stories high, were simply lifted up and carried off by the flood, as was "all the firewood, most of the fences and sheds, all the poultry, cats, rats and many of the cows and horses". The Chinese in their poorly built shantytowns were disproportionately affected. A chain gang

7568-493: Was recognized as a flood-prone landscape located at the confluence of the American and Sacramento River. John Muir noted the extent of seasonal flooding in Sacramento, "…The greatest floods occur in winter, when one could suppose all the wild waters would be muffled and chained in frost and snow…rare intervals warm rains and warm winds invade the mountains and push back the snow line from 2000 to 8,000 feet, or even higher, and then come

7656-434: Was sent to break open the levee, which, when it finally broke, allowed the waters to rush out of the city center and lowered the level of the flooding by 5–6 feet (1.5–1.8 m). Eventually the waters fell to a level on a par with the lowest part of the city. Politicians addressed the flood risk with an investment of more than $ 1.5 million in flood control and prevention through an improved levee system around Sacramento and

7744-603: Was situated about ten miles from Keysville, upon the right bank of Kern River. I had the bucks collected together, and informed Jose Chico and the citizens who had arrived that they might choose out those whom they knew to have been friendly. This was soon done. The boys and old men I sent back to their camps, and the others, to the number of thirty-five, for whom no one could vouch, were either shot or sabered. Their only chance for life being their fleetness, but none escaped, though many of them fought well with knives, sticks, stones, and clubs. This extreme punishment, though I regret it,

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