Time Machine: 40 years ago, flooding causes major concerns
Vail Trail/Vail Daily archive
40 years ago
June 1, 1984
Flooding issues plagued Eagle County following a massive snow year, the Vail Trail reported.
A mudslide crossed Interstate 70 about two miles east of the main Vail interchange, catching a motorist who escaped his vehicle on foot, leaving a tennis shoe in the mud.
When a mudslide on the south side of the Vail golf course hit a townhome on Sunburst Drive, “a big aspen tree went through a back door, through the dining room and living room, and out another door on the other side of the building,” the Trail reported. “Drapes that had been hanging inside the house were hanging from the tree after it emerged from the house.”
A wall of mud and debris in Booth Creek was an estimated 25 feet high, weighing 16,000 tons and threatening homes below.
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In the western end of the county, the Colorado River covered sections of the Denver and Rio Grande Western railroad tracks, forcing Amtrak to reroute the popular Zephyr to Wyoming route. And in Eagle, “their tap water has turned chocolate brown, and tastes, predictably, like mud,” the Trail reported.
50 years ago
May 31, 1974
A 5-year-old boy fell in the Eagle River in Minturn and drowned, the Vail Trail reported.
“A friend noticed he fell into the river and notified his parents and the police,” the Trail reported.
The boy was found 28 minutes later, 1.5 miles downriver.
60 years ago
May 28, 1964
The state’s first Outdoor Recreation Day, as proclaimed by Gov. John Love, was celebrated on May 31, 1964, the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported.
The state Game, Fish and Parks Commission opened many of its facilities for public inspection to commemorate the occasion, and in Eagle, the commission invited the public to visit Sylvan Lake to inspect the developments completed since the commission acquired the area in 1962.
“Sylvan (Zurcher’s) has long had a good reputation for good growth and natural propagation of brook trout,” the Enterprise reported. “In addition the department is also stocking hatchery rainbows in the lake. Hand-propelled boats are the only type allowed on the lake, ruling out water skiing. Swimming is also prohibited.”
70 years ago
May 27, 1954
The Eagle Valley Enterprise celebrated the fishing achievements of 11-year-old Robin Rogers and his friends.
“Rogers caught his prize-winning trout underneath the Nogal bridge, at the north edge of town Monday — hauling in a two-plus pound German Brown, using a daredevil,” the Enterprise reported. “Surprise of the strike left Robin so excited, he broke the tip of his pole landing the beauty. The trout was 18 1/2 inches long.”
Rogers’ friends also caught large fish in Eagle.
“Paul Luby and Steve Brady came in Tuesday afternoon with a catch of six beauts — the smallest one measured 12 inches and the longest one, 15 inches, weighing one and a third pounds,” the Enterprise reported. “The big one was caught by Steve, both boys using worms and fishing in Brush Creek.”
80 years ago
June 2, 1944
Troy Thomas had yet to meet his 7-month old daughter, who was living in Eagle with his wife, the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported.
“Mrs. Thomas is the former Vera Ginther, and she and her daughter are making their home in Eagle with her mother, Mrs. Winifred Ginther, while her husband is overseas,” the Enterprise reported.
Thomas was a private in the U. S. Air Force and had been stationed in England for the past year.
100 years ago
May 30, 1924
A big, rusty steam shovel was set to be moved after marring the landscape in Glenwood Canyon for 5-6 years, the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported.
“Garfield County bought this giant shovel for use in building the canyon highway when the convict labor was being used on the work nine or ten years ago, and it had been allowed to stand and rust right where it was last used,” the Eagle Valley Enterprise reported. “It has been sold to the contractor building the Byers Canon Road near Hot Sulphur Springs. The wagon freighters were transferring the machinery to State Bridge where it was loaded onto a car on the Moffat railroad.”
110 years ago
May 29, 1914
A great many prospectors were expected to visit Eagle County mining camps in the coming weeks, the Eagle County Enterprise reported.
“Prof. F.V. Hayden, in his maps of this northwest portion of Colorado, indicates that it is one of the best mineralized portions of the mountain area,” the Enterprise reported. “The Gore Range to the Utah line on the west, and Wyoming on the north, should present us with new mining camps that revive Colorado’s mining prestige.”
125 years ago
June 1, 1899
A team of horses got away from its hitch and ran up Eagle Street in Red Cliff, plunging into the Eagle River, the Eagle County Blade reported.
“The water was very high and the stream a fierce torrent,” the Blade reported. “The team with wagon still attached was swept under the bridge and on down stream fully 100 yards and finally one of them got down near the shore, stopping their progress. John Fleming and others succeeded in releasing the horses and they were gotten safely out. Strange to say, neither animal was in the least hurt nor was the wagon at all damaged.”
