Pueblo flood
Float the Arkansas River on a raft, on an inner tube: buckets of fun. But a far cry from the utter destruction and tragedy that wiped out downtown Pueblo in 1921. That June, relentless rain and snowmelt turned the river into a raging torrent 14 feet deep. It swept away everything in its path. More than 1,200 train cars floated like toys. Bridges tore off. Buildings collapsed. There were even fires on the floodwater — burning timbers, torching everything they touched. Hundreds of lives were lost. Without working telephone lines, Pueblo was cut off.
After one of Colorado’s deadliest and most destructive floods, engineers literally moved the Arkansas River half a mile away and built a massive levee to protect the city. Then, some locals envisioned a new downtown attraction on the old riverbed -- the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk. A tribute to Pueblo’s resilience and renewal.
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Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado. See more postcards.
