Show SAN a N ts fes forgotten Forgot first town by albert R lyman 1 I I 1 bli apter 11 II very little vain rain tell fell inthe in the summer and fall of and teed feed I 1 became ll 11 am d ir carce op the range after tah alie i holl half days range lange conditions became so bad because ot bf the lack oi of rainfall rall that it became tiu canio necessary ne cestary far foi the bluff people to round lound up lead head 0 of their cattle AW rii d tale take them to td the lake country near the co colliado Coloia ira do 0 river but when it 11 sets gets daiy diy dr Y in ili san juan look out tor for rain and lv athen I 1 ehlt it Is ii stormy prepare for a drouth early lna lin January nuary it began to storm more rain than snow and the storms became more moie frequent fie quent in ili r february no one felt the least bit of conceio conc concan ein unless it ft ier 6 feir fear bite the storms would not keep keel up long enough eno dut but they kept up long enouch much march came came in stormy and few more stormy stonily an awl 1 by the fifteenth or of the he month jie the r river ver had bad ralpd seven feet and and sti still liilie the stormy meather continued vy shover in april and still more heavy shovels eli in ili slay may it was vas not a aaby stady down downpour pour to keep I 1 the river coming steadily up tip it was up and down but but it rose with more frequency and i reached cached higher levels every time toward toft aids the end of may tho the storm god flod deemed to grow row in ili eari calinst lest an ard and d the rain came down in torrents dy by the esth of june the turbulent old san juan tied had reached a higher mark than aver ear before since the beg beginning ining of 0 the settlement and still it raised itkis it was unthinkable that enough could come down tile the valley to caver cover montezuma for it would have me to reach front cliff to cliff and rIv rival althe the mississippi in volume and yet abe they watched in fear and suspense and heard beerd with alarm of the heavy havy storms in the ha rivers livers gleat watershed ito to tie the vast cast john allan and his son and their lived a ways above the town tho on lower ground and they lived in hi great suspense night and day while bie the angry streams cradled nearer and act nearer on thit that eighth of june pic 1110 flood took away two of the most attractive water wheels but within ten fen lays days it had carried away every w heel Ili eel anthe on the river on the eighteenth elgh tenth of june cime came the tremendous remen dous rush mah of water from fully saturated satu ratel mountains 0 of f colorado it jose hill high above all ail previous r ecord spreading sin fading with an ominous roar closs the valley and ripping rl up century old trees as if they were weeds giant cottonwoods cotton gotton woods limbs on oil one on end and roots on tile the other jammed lad fiercely together in the wild current to be dumped lightly on the ibe mountain drift ground to stove wood in ill the mad rush no warning proceeded prece eded the big push the people kept I 1 steady vigil on the menacing rise ilse of the river but had no of it making a sudden jump consternation constein nation reigned at tho the allan homes when they discovered nit an higly black leading heading down itlie country between themselves and ancl t lle cliff to tile the north they were on oil an Is island land in ili the th merciless san sail juan or of houfe roufe e the water might not como come up 0 to o theli t houses but alie they had no asu rince whatever wha teiei and when it ile be gan sending its little forerunners across tile the door dooryard aid IAun auntie tle tried to r alse i a little levee with tho clr ni sovel to tu ulm n it awny a ly from coming on oil jilin into the house ill all in ill vain is i oil pet get out anil and politely poll tel r ledues quest tile the lood flood to wait just a moment and nd worse still for foi tile tho allans the in men en folks were all away front hot hom father allan and johnnie and ail petar 11 selm seem to hue have been baen at some onto nihei di tant point and alid nob dob had gone down td the fort foit A aunt tinty adrid aunt auk jai jine J ine and the iatric folks could do bothin hotl in j to hindi the turbulent int nider aiom fl ont cOn concill comena lIll tin till it 11 the doorway and rising TY after aftel them as they m 91 phairs and tables to keep out of it tile the terrified chickens flew to the trees went swimming away in ill tile the mud or 01 to ilde fide the roll ing drift it was a about out ten tell in ili tile the forenoon of ct that eighteenth ot of june when tho the big rush lush came in ili sight of the hie fort dob deb Allana aw it with alarm molin mounted ted ills pony polly and raced frant frantically leolly for home lie ile dashed into the ildr where flie fhe road had ban aclid pulled up soaked and bedraggled at the houses with with tae big stream shooting past thequata them nta bewildering speed no ko tells tell ling ing how soon the log rooms would float away 0 or how low much higher the water would rise 1 DA bob hitched a team to a buggy bugey and tried to haul the folks to land but somehow in the confusion and ill increasing 0 depth of the stream lie could make no progress but hind had to happen right away or the faly fain lUes children and all would be lost in tile flood so lie turned in in desperation again to the invincible Invin cibe cayuso cayuse on olt which he had come from the fort resolved to e some kind of ferry feny lie ile got an olaf molas ses sea boiler in which his father hal badi inada in d 3 xo molasses lasses and teeing hl bs s lasso rope lope to one end of it lie he secured the rope lope t to tile the horn of ills his saddle saddie and was ready for business only as a last and desperate reat would anyone venture to ride the andry san juan in a molasses boiler but deb bob and his mustang made tha the rier flous first voyage to shore gild and hurried back for the second load mild old aulty aunty gild and aunt jane and the children stepped into the strange stra tige 1 anft as their turn come came find and after about tile filth fifth trip they nvere nil all safely on oil the 1 I hank bank with v etli somi som i of their household olt stun stuff and on tint that north balik in tin fierce june sun they made a rude hide shade hade of cottonwood limbs and watched their homes in tile the drift loaded flood dut but those homes stord stood faithfully against the current cm rent till the water began to go down and for a will while I 1 it lo looked as tho the they migi might it r semaan malel and serve as homes again out the jowl ing flood turned in fury agil against nt it water soaked ill links buik and it ed and carried canted awny away one by one all tine three of the six houses when that mysterious old monster had stripped ej lie le dear deal homesteads of every valuable monument it retiree i in ili seeming exultation ul to a narrow channel on the far south rile of the valloy valley having possessed once more moie without successful challenge all the teri territory tory of RE iti I 1 domin dominion lon I 1 and what about the town ton of zunia zina and its little rort aj in all this 1 Ks p pe tal 6 r 1 i watched 11 ld till the water began to 10 go lov coan 11 without iw ing inc reached them they were safe no not lot safe nt at all the elevated spot on which they stood had been formed loomed in some past ase age will dpn a delta from a flood in mo montezuma Ce chelm elM ahk raj tape to make what ap appeared pearel airi ground around tor for a town b t it I 1 becci be built in the old do tile the river and that river rive lin litkea lindala dalf IP 98 oil f for of re occupying its oli old territory ry 1 wt in i its eager effort to en eulaj J I 1 n aits its hood bood tile the homes of the intruders Intrude ri tile the old stream began chisel i pig away tile bank balik between them 1 ita chiseled away the earth tilt till th the e room the ilie fort dropped by sections into its seething surface and then while tile the people watched in fit buttor helplessness to stay its fierce progress the old river ate up tip house after I 1 house bouse all the settlers could to do was to move bleir heir be belongings lodgings to higher gro aid watch their hard earned homes disappear over the bank andi and ithac fajt hat old san juan like a thinking spiteful thing cut an ail dextral extra I 1 cove in s tank lank to take in fit Wil william williaml liall elds inome home said to be the best house in t town own I 1 it loft left but one home of f IV what had been till the village of affinto monte zuria that one home hollie belonged to harrlson I 1 n hardman Harrl man and it stood over oven a of rock several feet he be I 1 low hi bie surface when the ole river lilt hit I 1 tili th pi r rock 0 ailt tt could cut no further RO go like a creature creature able to gloat an aal 1 exult it retired to tile the far side of the valley living tile the township a deso late I 1 1 of sand and mud and drift I 1 i wl vf I 1 th but hari finans lonel lone house looking down over tile the bank to mark the I 1 cherp it stood fields orchards ditches all swept away the pie moody raim faini file ll 11 e darney barney ard tile the drools woolsey farms falin and other improve e cd I 1 A arnd il iian tile lie river rive suffered suf fored part art I 1 or cc complete e MI rafn for when tile rive 1 16 normal it ift hit an and 1 l alles of le alons its banks much original country seen by the scouts in 1879 h had id gone away tobe s seen en no more of t coul course ce th at area ca r remained emal ned a low bottom boton of sand ol 01 or clay la flat not inviting as farri farm land and not safe sar efrom from the common floods tanty lity years or of tile corn colln ing of thourl t thoro there was to be found founie b L u t otle one of tile lie big botto bottoms that had found tint ans the bottom where oruil had been built but the river cr has hai eiton eil ii groday crp adly latr it on all n bides and and I 1 it t is blit a sorry f fragment 1 of 1111 t it if U was as in 18 1879 79 tile the cOMMIl 1 community lity scattered to efery ry point of tile the comp compass iss ner to ile he to together ether aaen the AI div prod id yda I 1 d to iluff tho the DT to Arl tile tho to nn ain tile tho ot loi to atah itt nw 1 tat P antar an fn r the bierri r afi o I 1 aad millie flie iwo lw 0 little cravor 11 larot dt over the silence nuil ibid fi ode irom front an ail indian tri ling pot post in ili that vic vicinity hilty no one has blvd elivd for more thrift forty five years johnny allan went back to save N whatever be left vid a patch of volunteer watermelons water melons and aller 1885 no one clit claimed nied property at tile of montezuma Mont I 1 pzul czuma 1 l a |