The Day the River Rose: Asotin’s Fear of a Washout
As floodwaters threaten to cut off the town from the mainland, residents brace for isolation and potential disaster along the Snake River.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
ASOTIN, Wash., June 23.—Snake river is rising rapidly, and its waters cover the mudflats in the lower classes of the river two miles this place on Washington. Those accustomed to traveling this road still go to and fro, but now continuous hot weather will put all travel along this little outposts will be cut off entirely.
By using the Asotin ferry, however, a good road may be opened from Pasco by opening two or three trains. Owing to the tardiness of this warm weather, it is believed the water will now run in with a rush, and if it does the people of Asotin have great fear for Lowden's safety.
In an era before modern levees and flood control infrastructure, small border towns like Asotin lived in constant anxiety about the Snake River’s seasonal surges. This report captures the precariousness of early Washington settlements, where a few inches of rain could sever transportation links and isolate communities, mirroring today's ongoing struggles with climate-driven flooding in the Pacific Northwest.
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