| Show RANCH DWElLING IS S FLOATING IN LAKE CREATED BY HUGE SLIDE IN Forest Service Receives Official Description of Avalanche Its Its Extent Extent and Loss in Jackson Hole Country JACKSON J. Wj-o. Wj rOo July 2 OP OP A JACKSON J CI O Wyo Wo July Jill S. S 2 A P A Fifty ranches In the th Gros valley in lr of being Inundated In 11 If H the th lia ba l ln ln formed 11 by b tl the c Sheep moon moun mountain tain t lust Itt hl 1 t HC t e c k Is Mocking the Gros Gro TItre Centro river Aver breaks k under tho Increasing 1 Impounding of llio tho Mr en ills ill's now flow forestry on officials 1 reported If the th basin 1 Rives way nT ny lip 1 ere res will willbo willIt 1 bo It c flooded 1 The forest ranger slat station Ion inthe In Inthe Inthe the valley Talley Tn lie near Sheep heel moun moun- mountain lain tain was WIIo placed pi nn l I partially I un un- under der water today 1 as n. the th heal n flow of ho tho widened 1 1 under uler the r river Aver The Tho tanger uns as near the th edge of the basin Tho water In the lie haMn ha ln ht Is 19 I Inow now only 35 33 3 fret feel from the tho top lop Lot Lo-at week the ba hn ln's top tow tow- towered creel ered cr 11 00 feet the water It I The north end of Sheep mountain is I slowly lowly Io I sliding sll Into the tho river valley all lint hat nt at present no terrific landslide hido Is feared f Forestry officials estimated that It Il 11 as slipping g at nl tho iho rate ato I of or 00 0 to 70 0 feet an nn hour lo lo- loA tolla lla day A graphic account of or the land land- landslide I slide elide on the Teton forest near tho the the th Jackson hole holo country where Gros V was dammed has hap 1 been received by District Forests Forester Forest 1 R. R P II 11 Rutledge dge In lit an official Ut tat- Utter tatter ter from A. A C C. McCain forest supervisor of tho the Teton national forest at Jackson Wyo Vo Mr McCain's McCains letter In full fol tot follows lows TeXT O OP 01 LETTER We e have now completed a a. hurried but quite Quill thorough In Investigation In- In Investigation investigation of or the Gros Ventre landslide It occurred at 4 20 o'clock on tho afternoon of or Juno June 23 3 and aside from a brief and hardly perceptible caving of banks banke low down came camo with a u. cro n h from rom an elevation of fees T. f c- c nd 1600 feet above the river ed fed The slide hit the river obliquely and ran up among amon the thu cliffs on the opposite side ot or tho th river to a height h of approximately feet above tho the river bed Ap Apparently p Ap- Apparently after crossing the tho river nd losing momentum ahead ahad by encountering the solid cliffs the mass of or earth and rock slid both ways was from Its Us own crest filling the he canyon for a 1 distance of one onu mile up u and d down don the tho river rt e i GOSh GONE 1 The T. T G. G G Huff Hurr ranch was I covered with the tho slide sll e except the tho dwellings which occupied a rela rela- relatively Ively high location just lust above he The path of or the slide Stables hay hay- hayracks racks asks and the bridge leading to he the ranch house were demolished itself A cowpuncher I t 1 r F the slide on the north side of the tho river 4 I. ho had narrowly escaped the Ide raced for the Huff ranch by byway byway way of or the bridge When within 0 o yards ards of or the bridge the slide sl e hit it and landed It almost at nt his horses horse's feet Mr Ir Huff was plow- plow mg at the time and tied his plow am ant and was helping some cow cow- cowboys cowboys off boys I move mono a Po bunch ot or cattle als ranch When len they the realized hat something was waa happening It U was too lato late to return to the th Plow team learn and they had to rae race or or their th lr lives barely succeeding suc in m escaping Observers thought at first that i t 10 ic Ie plow team had been caught In the slide since the horses could not be seen however ho e Cr later laler in- in inv v d them thrill still tied Mod completely hidden from front levy lew but lout having escaped the slide elide by b inches The Card Cald ranch next nex bove Huffs Huff's escaped the tho slide but bul Inside of 24 hours was completely Inundated sad and ad the buildings afloat FAMILIES I MOVED 10 Coming Corning so late in the day and with our telephone lines lints and road dd d d' d moll shed knowledge of th the thi i reached the outside out lowly and only one ono man succeed succeed- succeeded I I ed cd in crossing the tho slide before d. d the next morning How How- Howo o e er men m n from the Redrock Dud anch inch on Crystal Creek Ed flu Rui- gold eold the next rancher above Card Cart wo cowboys and Forest Kan Ranger 50 r Dibble by working all night sue suc- eded In moving all of or Mr Jr Huffs Huff's I nd Cards Card's h household effects to together to- to tether gather with their families to the tho I Horsetail Ranger station The Huff tuff ranch was WalS rated as one of the best In Jackson Hole Besides being very cry productive th the beauty h auty of Its location brought forth comment from every even on one J who Mewed It It The ranch ran h of course Is a II total loss and the th dwelling house modern In every ever respect and having cost In the I neighborhood of Is afloat in the lake The Card ranch also nl lo a II total tow I loss while not so valuable as the Huff tuff ranch was the home of an nn old couple and represented all they had In the world Tho loss lose to them Is relatively greater than tho the toss LOSS oss of the Huff ranch A few head hlad of or cattle caUle were lost but we dont don't know how ho many A considerable number of the cattle had been driven through the can can- canyon canyon canyon yon about five fin minutes before the the slide occurred and It was the tl tI o cowboys cowboy In charge challe of these cattle calli together with Mr 11 Huff Iluff who had hILi tho the narrow escape from the slid The river Is bone dry below the slide and crops In the valley vall y will no doubt suffer from the lack of Irrigation water SLIDE SURVEYED Inn Saturday we completed a hur- hur hurt hury y of the t slide elide The lowest I st point pointon o i ithe fo 11 t on the tho t crest e Is 2256 feet above the river bed The width across the crest is approximately one one- half halt mile This Is so rough that we did not chain it but will wl mea uro it with a I stadia rod today The slide extends a II mile up UI and down the river rh-er sloping one one- ter of oe a a. mile from the crest down the river and three quarters of or 1 t He up stream The water was 1 raising at nl the rate of four inches Inch's i iper per hour Friday and was wa 83 feet lower than the crest of or the slide slid Level lines run indicate that If Ie the slide effectively holds water ater to the crest the Horsetail ranger station will bo inundated and that tho the level of back water will b bin be beIn I in the vicinity of the mouth of or I Miner lIner creek How Ilow long IonIC It IL will take I to fill Is problematical river elver Is going down and the vol vol- volume 01 ume of supply Is 19 decreasing all ali alithe th the time and the tho surface area of ot the till reservoir re Increasing The bridge at al the Huff ranch our bridge opposite the tho Horsetail Ranger station I four miles ot of th th- thi i I eo JO J Gros li sg Ventre e road and three miles mile I ot or telephone line lino are arc now lost or orwill will be when the water waler has reach reach- reached ed Its ultimate level le Restoration I of the road Is out of or the tho ques ques- question qU t. t lion tion at nt this time Tho The telephone line has been connected tern tem temporarily and the work Is progress progress- progressIng tem tem-I s- s sIng Ing log on a n. pack trail above the I slide lido on the north side ot or the tho river rf and will be completed with with- within I within in a n. week Many fany tourists are visiting the scene and wo we have l found It necessary I say sary e to designate deal g n limited parking grounds for automobiles to avoid accidents on the tho steep sleep hillside and since there Is no water avail avail- available available available able and sightseers rs suffer much inconvenience nl thereby t we have havo granted concession e r covered vc by a I special use permit for a refresh refreshment ment refreshment stand at the terminal of the auto road As As soon as things have settled down doo and no Immediate changes are aro ar anticipated wo we will 11 send Bend you youa ou ouI I a a. largo scale Bralo detail de H map |
