Pictures Of High Water Results
At Rocky Creek and Nitrolee

Cedar Creek Flood Gates & Power House.
Picture Taken From 'Buzzard Roost'
Above Rocky Creek Power House

Cedar Creek Power House and Access Rd Coming 
From Xroads On Hwy 97

Spillway Between The Powerhouses

Cedar Creek Lake Spills Over

Pretty Exciting If You Get Close

On To Lake Wateree

Nitrolee Dam. It's Spilling Over Maybe We Should Open Some 

Careful.... Nitrolee Dam Technician Caught Working

Who Built The Skyscrapers?

Obscure Coffer Dam (Just Before 1st Treeline) Diverts Water Around Mountain Island (R) Into Great Falls Reservoir.  High Water Spills Over Coffer 
Into 'Old River Bed'. (L) Usually Dry As Below

Has anyone hiked the old river bed lately and if so see the remnants of the quartz mine that's down there?  The US military had them mined until the end of WW1 for radio transmitters, as they were back then. What about the old nitrogen plant about a mile up Fishing Creek from US21 bridges at the  rr trestle xing. Anyone ever see the remnants of Fort Dearborn on The Big Island? Ever hiked to Dead Lake? Know where it is?

Deja View: Water, Water Everywhere…
Let me take you back, way back, to a simpler time, and an even wetter time. Can’t believe it? Well, it’s true, an even wetter time. I’m not sure of the date, but it was in the late 60’s, maybe 65,or 66, or 67 even, and there was more water flowing over, under, and around the dams around town than there is now.

Hard to believe, I know, but true. The Local Golf Course was nearly wiped out. Well, at least it sustained a lot of damage. The road next to fairway 8 / 17 was completely under water. That’s right, at the bottom of the hill on Washington Street, there was water across the road even before you got to the curve. Go down there and look at the spot and you’ll understand how much water that is. Look down toward the creek, and imagine it being across the road. That is a lot of water.

The horseshoe spillways at Rocky Creek / Cedar Creek was overrun all the way around. It actually looked like Niagara Falls. It was worse than the Hugo aftermath. Water got up so high that it was running inside the powerhouse on the south (Debutery) side. It was creating dips and waves that were 10 to 12 feet high in spots. It was truly AWESOME.

Believe it or not, but four locals, whom I won’t name, to protect the idiots, tried to “shoot the rapids” down through the Golf Course from the old “iron bridge” on Golf Course Road. They didn’t make it far before they were all thrown from their canoes. By the Grace of God and the Rescue Squad, they were saved. Who says God doesn’t look out for children, drunks, and idiots. The largest, most powerful Rescue Boat was able to reach the people after fighting upstream for hours against the floodwaters. Luckily, when the canoes capsized, one of the occupants was thrown toward the shore and was able to go for help. The other three were amazingly, or maybe, miraculously thrown to areas where they managed to grab onto trees, and hold on until help came. Reality TV or Fear Factor had nothing on these guys.

If anybody has any pictures of this time in history, please let me know. I would love to put them on the website for all of our readers. Maybe the Great Falls Reporter, or the Chester News people will read this or hear about this story, and take the Hint to reprint their pictures and maybe reprint the amazing rescue story. Until then, I’m not telling you who they (the ones I teasingly call the idiots) were. We were all teens then.

We went to get these pictures, and word was spreading fast, because the Tom Mangum Bridge on Hwy 200 at the Nitrolee Dam was covered with people and traffic was moving really slowly with gawkers. I sure hope the Bridge Holds!

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