The Great Kansas City Flood of 1903

In early May of 1903, a steady rain began to fall across Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri.  For days the rain fell which included severe storms, hail and tornadoes.  By the end of the month, rivers and streams throughout Kansas were flowing to overflowing.  And where did all this water go?  The Kansas water went into the Kansas River while the Nebraska water went into the Missouri River - both of which meet in Kansas City. 

On May 20, 1903, the Missouri River near the West Bottoms in KC was 12 feet, nine inches deep.  Eight days later, a weather forecast printed in the Kansas City Star newspaper predicted "another spell of bad weather" that would "test the patience of the people of Kansas City and its vicinity." A weather observer predicted thunderstorms and stated, "Of course there will be high winds, but not of the kind that wreck towns and kill people."



Keep in mind the West Bottoms at that time was largely an industrial area - home of the rail and stockyards, packing plants, factories, warehouses, and mills.  Hundreds of less wealthy immigrant families lived there.  The Union depot also stood in the Bottoms, and restaurants, cafes, and saloons serviced the entire area.


Well, the forecast rains did come.  Both rivers, already high, continued to rise.  By May 30, the Missouri was 25 feet deep.  The next day it was 35 feet deep.  The Kansas River was between three and five miles wide along its eastern Kansas course.  In the West Bottoms, the rivers ceased to exist altogether and instead formed more of an inland sea.


Work ceased at factories and mills.  Livestock were decimated - either drowned or swept away with the currents.  Trains could not access the city and all but one bridge over the Missouri were gone.  Seven feet of water flowed into the Union depot.  Streetcars were inoperable.  Public utilities such as gas, water, and electricity were out.  Most of the residents did not evacuate for various reasons - some had no place to go, others couldn't bear to leave their homes and the rest were confident that this flood would be no worse than others they had experienced.

As one reporter put it, "The river front population has a way of adapting itself to the temporary inconveniences that arise from the irregularities of the Missouri."  This flood, however, proved to be more than an irregularity.  Many were stranded on rooftops - their only hope of rescue from friends' and neighbors' boats. 

A week later the water receded and clean-up began by the building owners.  J.A. Johnston was one of those intrepid owners whose café (right across the street from the old Union depot) was getting its post-flood attention .  He reported that the water in the cafe reached a depth of seven feet, two inches.  He was lucky enough to find his business' clock, still hanging on the wall, which was stopped on Tuesday, June 3, 1903, at 9:22 A.M.  He had the water line marked on the clock casement to memorialize the incident, and in 1906 donated the clock to the Kansas Historical Society where it remains today.

Now you know a bit more about the great 1903 Kansas City Flood.  What I find incredible was that only 19 people died.  Amazing.  Of course, since the clock has been removed from the wall, the significance of its elevation datum has been lost, but I wouldn't be surprised if each new generation of the Johnstons lay claim to the fact that the clock hung on a higher story than the previous generation.  That'd be embellishment - KC style!

Missouri River Water Described

Missouri River

It was June 21, 1804 and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (Corps of Discovery) to explore a continental route to the Pacific Northwest was in Kansas.  It had begun on May 14, 1804 from Camp DuBois in Illinois territory. 

William Clark was taking notes that day and recorded the following words about the river water in his journal: "The water we drink or the Common water of the missourie at this time, contains a half a Comm Wine Glass of ooze or mud to every pint-"

You have to keep in mind that the Missouri River of this period was called affectionately the "Big Muddy".  It was a wild river that carried untold amounts of silt, clay, sand, trees, grass and who knows what else.  All this foreign material was in the river because it was cutting side channels and the currents contained chutes, eddies, boils, undercuts sandbars and backwaters.  And things got even worse when there was a big rain up-river somewhere - perhaps the case when William Clark saw it and made his notes.

Today the river is a quite different - with the channel being maintained for navigation and flood control through a system of dams and reservoirs up the river that provide water for irrigation, recreation and power generation.  It can still get turbid, but probably not like Clark described it.

There is actually a plaque marker at this site that was erected in 2004 by Kansas Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission and the National Park Service.  It's in Atchison, KS at the Riverfront Park Pavilion. 

Right Answer - Wrong Cause

I ran across a May 13, 1855 letter that brand new Kansan Hiram Hill wrote to his brother back east.  Much of the content was concerning the water quality in the Missouri River they had just steamed up to reach Kansas City - Hiram's final destination being Lawrence, KS.  Just goes to show you, that some things never change.  Water quality and water quantity is always a challenge in Kansas.

Dear Brother


I take my pen to inform you of my Whareabouts and the state of my health I arived here friday Eve about 6 [o’clock] in good health and was very Glad to get on to Land onse more we had a pretty good passage for the State of the River the Water is very Low – it is said to be Lower than Ever before it is very drye in the vicinity We had 4 cases of colera aboard all which proved fatal Two young men of robust health about 12 one 4 [xxx] about So it was frightfull to see what Rapid Work Deth made of its victims from [xxx] Hours Laid them Low in death & Died in their State Rooms opposite to my Room & Down below Deck passengers all there causes wase brot on by imprudence in eating and drinking it is a grate wonder to Me that thare is not more die than does from drinking it is worse than I Ever Knew in any place in my Life – Drinking and Gambling and Swaring is the order of the day on this River Even when these men Wer sick & dying they wer playing cards at two tables but a few feet from Whare they Lay – it is a very common thing for boats to Bury from one to twenty going up this River We have to drink the River Water Which Looks at all times very much as the water from [xxx] Whites Bank, is very high Water I have no Doubt the Water is full of Diseaze from the Low prairie Land Whare there is so much Dead vegatble matter. I have Herd thare Has ben Some Sickness on the Misseupe River one boat going up to St Paul Lost sevrel of hur passengers thare is Diseaze in all this Western World arising from the Richnes of the Soil...

The entire letter can be seen at:  http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/3016.  Be sure to click on the Text version, because the handwritten letter is very difficult to read.