Flood of 1890
From Lane Co Oregon
New York Times, February 8, 1890, Wednesday Page 1
Oregon's Greatest Flood
The Willamette Valley Still Underwater. Riding in Boats or Swimming the Alternative Offered by the Streets of Portland, Oregon.
Portland, Oregon, February 7 - The flood of 1890 will pass into history as the greatest Oregon has ever known, and yet not nearly so much damage has been done as in the greatest freshet of December 1861, when Linn City was swept away and many persons lost their lives. In those days there was no high water mark to warn settlers and farmers of dangers, but close to the low banks of the Willamette fated Linn City grew up in the narrow gorge where now the river rushes a mighty torrent forty feet deep. This year very few houses have been carried away and only a few factories, which the owners had believed were built strong enough to withstand any freshet that could possibly come.
Oregon City has suffered the greatest damage. Here is the narrowest part of the whole valley...
...Eugene, Oregon - Very little rain has fallen within the last twenty-four hours. The river is falling slowly, and the highest mark reached was twenty-two feet above low water. The large bridge near Springfield went out to-day, also part of the bridge near this city, entailing a loss of $20,000. A few small buildings in the low bottoms were washed away and a large amount of cordwood, fencing, and other material also, the aggregate losses amounting to many thousands of dollars. The city of Eugene did not suffer any loss from the river, and only slight loss and annoyance from surface water. The Ashland and California Railway track in Southern Oregon has been washed away for miles. The roadbed is seriously damaged along the line. There has not been a mail from either north or south for several weeks. No estimate of the losses to the country in bridges and private property can be made. Hundreds of thousands of dollars will not cover it.[[1]]
