The One They Had In 1882 Was
 'The Big Flood'
By Bobby Joe Williams

The flood of 1882 was significant for a number of reasons. First, the magnitude and
length of time the water remained at a high stage. Second, the massive amount of
destruction in property and human lives. Third, the number and aggregated length of
the crevasses caused by the high water. Fourth, the impetus given to the work of the
Mississippi River Commission.

There had been no major flood since 1874. A survey of the levees after the flood of
1874 indicated that between Cairo and the Gulf there were 157.5 miles of crevasses in
the levee system. With the levees in such poor condition, even a moderate flood would
cause extensive damage.

During the period between January and March of 1882, the rain came down unabated.
More than 235 billion cubic yards of rain fell over the Mississippi River and its
tributaries. There was no way for the channel to carry such a volume of water to the
Gulf without extensive inundation of the entire flood plain.

The flood of 1882 came in two swells. On February 3, the first crest came to a stand
at 7.6 feet above the danger line. Because of heavy rain, the river again began to
rise, culminating on February 26 at 11.9 feet above flood stage. At Memphis the river
was above flood stage from January 25 to March 30. From the time the river reached
flood stage at Cairo, it was 81 days before the water passed into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mississippi River during the flood never went more than a few feet above flood
stage. Nevertheless, water covered the area from Memphis west to the St. Francis
River in Arkansas, except for a few ridges.

On January 1, 1882, the Mississippi River at Memphis began a slow rise from 28.9
feet, not reaching flood stage until January 29. When the river at Memphis reaches
the 33-34 foot level, the water begins to spill into the lowlands west of Memphis. By
the end of January, the area around Memphis had not yet received the brunt of the
waters. The only difficulty was a delay in the railroad service to the west.

Beginning with the first week in February, rain fell almost daily for three weeks. By
the middle of February, all levees were being strongly guarded. Adding to the
distress of the flood victims and the levees was a heavy wind of 30-40 mph, which
caused waves of 3 to 4 feet on the river.

It was a common practice in the early days of flood fighting that it was everyone's
duty to help fight the high waters. When the water threatened to break through a
levee or overtop it,

the city's fire bells would be rung. Everyone would drop whatever they were doing
and go to the point of danger. All merchants would close their businesses and fight
the flood. Their merchandise would be of little value if it had been covered by 10 or
12 feet of water.

By February 17, there were numerous breaks in the levees. The water near Helena,
Arkansas covered an area fifteen miles inland from either bank. Cattle and hogs were
drowned by the hundreds in the early part of the flood. The counties of Crittenden,
Lee, and Phillips in Arkansas and DeSoto, Tunica and Coahoma in Mississippi had the
most damage.

On February 16, 1882 there were two crevasses that did major damage. The first
occurred in the rear of the levee enclosing Laconia Circle. Laconia Circle is located
at the mouth of the White River. Without warning, a section about fifty yards wide
collapsed and the water rushed into Laconia Circle covering the entire area.

Eighteen large plantations were inundated inside Laconia Circle. The second break
occurred about 300 yards above Austin, Mississippi. After a few hours, the crevasse
was about three miles long. The break in the levee overflowed everything between
Austin and Friar's Point.

By February 21, no trains could run between Memphis and the St. Francis River.
Starting at Madden's Landing, seven miles below Memphis, there was not a plantation
on either bank of the river that was not partially or entirely submerged.

Just across the river from Memphis, the people had already begun to cut holes in the
roofs of their homes and were living among the rafters. One man had erected a tent on
his roof, where he lived during the flood, along with his chickens. He just fished
all day long. There was nothing else to do.

On February 23 the river at Memphis dropped a tenth of a foot below the flood stage,
and then began another rise that culminated in a crest of 35.15 on March 9. On the
Tyronza River west of Memphis, the first deaths were recorded when a skiff
overturned, drowning six children of one family.

February 27, 1882 was probably the most eventful day of the flood. Up to that point
only two breaks of any magnitude had occurred-at Austin, Mississippi and Laconia
Circle. The damage done by the two breaks had been comparatively small. However, a
little after midnight on February 27 a high wind began to blow and a heavy rain began
to fall.

Between midnight and daybreak, enough breaks occurred in the levees between Friar's
Point and Arkansas City to flood the area between the two towns.

At Riverton, Mississippi a break occurred right in front of the town. The people of
the town, many having no time to dress, made their way naked up the trees to safety.

Riverton was not the only break in Bolivar County. On March 1, the levees at Wade,
Clay and Badgat also gave way. The three breaks, plus the one at Riverton, flooded
all of Bolivar County. Rosedale, Mississippi was reported to be under six feet of water.

In Arkansas, where there was very little protection, the flood waters created another
Venice. Two-thirds of Desha County, Arkansas was under water. For 40 miles, the only
land that could be seen was a mound of sawdust about sixteen feet in diameter, in
which 17 victims of the flood were buried.

It was reported that in the last few days that at least 10 other people had lost
their lives. A meeting of the citizens of Crittenden County reported that 3,612
families were in need of help. In the White River area the flood waters extended up
to Clarendon, Arkansas, a distance of about 100 miles. In the bottom lands across
from Memphis, the water was 4 to 11 feet deep for a distance of 17 miles from
Memphis. The water in this area was reported to be over the tops of railroad
flatcars.

The flood of 1882 was devastating in terms of human misery. While the water was at
its highest point, a steamboat could have gone from within 20 miles of Pine Bluff,
Arkansas to the Gulf of Mexico without entering the Mississippi River.

Human suffering was made even more harsh by the attitude of the federal government
and local landowners. It was in this period of United States history that the
concepts of rugged individualism and self-help were at their peak. The federal
government finally came to the aid of the flood victims in a small way.

Plantation owners, to a man, opposed any issue of government rations. They believed
that once their workers had been given free rations, they would never again return to
the fields.

The flood of 1882 was the greatest on record to that date. The crevasses extended the
entire length of the Mississippi River and the overflow was widespread. There were
284 crevasses with an aggregate length of 59.1 miles. The crest of the flood exceeded
all previous records at all gauges between Cairo and Arkansas City.

It was at this point that the Mississippi River Commission entered the levee
construction field. The great flood of 1882 had left the people of the Lower
Mississippi Valley prostrate, without means or credit to undertake the massive job of
restoring the levees. Many miles of levee would have to be completely rebuilt, the
old site having caved into the river.

The River and Harbor Act of August 2, 1882 gave the Mississippi River Commission its
first funds with which to build levees. The act appropriated $4,123,000 for
improvements below Cairo. Of this sum, $1,315,000 was used in the construction and
repair of the levees.

The Commission was still under a prohibitory clause (and would remain so for several
years) not to construct any levee unless it would aid in the navigation of the river.
Nevertheless, the Commission had its foot in the door on flood control work. From
1882, to the present(1974) the commission has pushed the door of flood control work
ever wider and wider.
 

©Bobby Joe Williams 2008