Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
two
The
1861-1862 Floods
lessons lost
The great central valley of the state is under water—the Sacra-
mento and San Joaquin valleys—a region 250 to 300 miles long
and an average of at least twenty miles wide, or probably three to
three and a half millions of acres!
William Brewer,
Up and Down
California in
1860
-
1864
the southern california cataclysm
The roar of the water far up the valley woke Father Borgatta during
the night. He ran through the driving rain up the hill next to his little church
and frantically began to ring the church bell to warn the sleeping village.
h e villagers—men, women, and children—l ed the rising waters on foot,
but the tempestuous l oodwaters, billowing i t y feet high, crashed through
the village, almost catching the l eeing residents attempting to run to safety.
h e rains had started innocently enough on Christmas Eve, 1861. But they
continued day and night for the next twenty days, culminating in a week-
long downpour that swept this Southern Californian village of the map.
h e village was located along the Santa Fe Trail between New Mexico and
Los Angeles, about i ve miles northeast of present-day Riverside. Founded
in 1845, Agua Mansa (“calm water,” in Spanish) was situated in a peaceful
river valley surrounded by lush riparian vegetation: sycamore, willow, and
cottonwood trees graced the village, along with the vineyards and orchards
planted by the villagers. h e l ood obliterated all of that in one tragic hour:
the traditional adobe houses seemed to dissolve into the brown, churning
water; large trees were uprooted and carried away, along with horses, cows,
and sheep.
All that remained of this idyllic village were the front steps and two
marble pillars of Father Borgatta's church, bearing testimony to the highest
