Flood Waters Cut Denver in Half

Fourteen Cross-Town Bridges Destroyed

Denver—June 16, 1965

Denverites scarcely knew where the South Platte River flowed through their city. On most of the thoroughfares that crossed it, there was only a low bridge, a few hundred feet long. The river was much too wide and fast to wade across, and too shallow and fast for swimming or boating. But it truly wasn't much of a river.

On the Wednesday night of June 16, 1965, though, that modest river demanded our attention. A huge thunderstorm had hung for a good part of the afternoon over a small area south of Denver, near Castle Rock, Colorado. The area getting most of the rain was all in one watershed, drained by tiny Plum Creek. The saturated land around Plum Creek became unable to absorb more water, and in the early evening the creek became a raging torrent, quickly dumping a phenomenal amount of water into the South Platte.

The Platte didn't rise; it almost exploded. Starting at about Castle Rock, a twenty foot high wall of water began a journey toward Denver. Through the late evening, in darkness, we listened to radio descriptions of disappearing bridges, and flooded property.

Not until the morning light did we really know what had happened. The Platte had grown to a mile-and-a-half wide in places. It had destroyed or seriously damaged all but three of the bridges that spanned it in Denver.

We began to learn where the river ran through our city. It ran through the rail yards, and warehouse districts, and near the homes of some of the poorest citizens. And the morning light revealed thousands of trucks and freight cars scattered through the center of our town, and thousands of people trying to mop up, and dig out.

Some homes and commercial buildings were completely filled with mud. Some warehouses had all their merchandise piled in a muddy heap against one wall by the force of the water. There was no visible evidence of some of the bridges. Some houses had all the earth washed from around their basement foundations. The resurgent Colorado sunshine reflected brightly off still-wet mud, and created a spirit of irony.

Today a control dam creates Chatsfield Reservoir southwest of Denver, protecting the city just as another and older earthen dam, southeast of the city, controls Cherry Creek. And the 1965 flood is recalled by few, like the devastating floods of Cherry Creek a half century earlier.

© J. C. Adamson, 1996

Housewives Boycott — Grocers Cut Prices

Denver Boycotters Lead a National Trend

Denver—October 17, 1966

Just three days before a scheduled grocery store boycott, a planning meeting was sparsely attended by Denver housewives. But on the Monday morning of October 17, it was the five major supermarket chains in Denver that were sparsely attended. Housewives had formed two action groups, Housewives for Lower Food Prices (HLFP), and National Housewives for Lower Prices (NHLP). Their efforts in Denver were so successful that one of the chains closed within twenty-four hours to mark down prices and change policies to effect operational cost savings.

The Denver housewives also created a nationwide reaction, spawning boycotts and grocer reactions in other cities. US President, Lyndon Johnson, dispatched an aide to attend Denver meetings between housewives and grocers. Within a week, the housewives had declared their actions successful, though some boycotts continued. Among the effects of the boycott were the almost immediate discontinuance of trading stamp promotions, and drastic reductions of coupon promotions in Denver. The housewives demanded lower prices instead of the expensive promotions.

It was more than a decade before major coupon promotions and special non-food merchandising returned to Denver stores, and trading stamps have never been seen here again. It's also worthy of note that three of the targeted chains closed their operations many years ago.

© J. C. Adamson, 1996

It Took a Woman to Take Back
Denver's Congressional Seat

Pat Schroeder Restores the House District to Democrats

Pat Schroeder defeated Republican incumbent Mike McKevitt, introducing the term "Congressperson" to Denver's lexicon. McKevitt had only held the office for two years, elected at least in part as a result of Democratic party squabbling that gave him an unusual opportunity.

The congressional district that consists primarily of The City & County of Denver has a long history of electing Democrats. It was no surprise that the local Democratic party healed itself during the two years of McKevitt's term, and succeeded in replacing him. However, the person they chose to win their fight was a bit of a change from tradition.

Of course, Congresswoman Schroeder became a leader nationally as well as locally, and served twenty-four years before retiring at the beginning of 1997. In some eyes, her many accomplishments were somewhat clouded by her divisive attitudes. It was not unusual near the end of her tenure to hear men talk of feeling disenfranchised by her feminist agenda, perhaps at times pursued at the expense of service to the male half of her constituency.