Bits of History : Flooding woes lessened by construction of White River dams
Posted on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
With the possible exception of the coming of the railroads, nothing has affected the history of northwest Arkansas as much as the building of Beaver Dam. Before the dam was built, the White River followed a twisting channel through northwest Arkansas. In our area, the river had so many bends that oldtimers told a story about two hunters who paddled all day, only to find themselves still within walking distance of home the next morning.
In the four decades since the dam's construction, this area has changed from a region of small towns surrounded by farms into a rapidly-growing metropolitan area. Local residents think about Beaver Lake largely in terms of its immediate benefits to those of us who live in this area - an ample supply of water, a source of hydroelectric power and a place to boat, fish and swim. But the recent flooding in Arkansas has made clear to all of us the dam's primary purpose - flood control.
The story of Beaver Dam begins with one of our nation's worst natural disasters. The recent flooding in Arkansas, Missouri and other areas in the central Mississippi Valley certainly caused economic loss and human suffering. But the losses pale in comparison to the Great Flood of 1927.
That flood covered 27, 000 square miles, killed 246 people, forced over a million Americans from their homes and changed the nation's approach to flood control along the Mississippi. Although it was built over three decades later, our own Beaver Dam was the result of that change in flood control policy.
The 1927 flood began when heavy rains fell in the upper Midwest during the summer of 1926. The rains continued and expanded, and by April of 1927, a wall of water pushed its way across farmland and communities in seven states. Arkansas
The White River rose in northwest Arkansas, but the real damage in our state was downstream. The first levee break came at Pendleton on April 16, allowing the Arkansas River to pour into Desha and Arkansas counties. From Little
In 1927, levees alone protected the lower Mississippi and its tributaries from flooding. Over the next decade Congress passed legislation authorizing the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct reservoirs for the purpose of flood control on the Mississippi's tributaries, including the White. By 1959, the Corps had built three dams on the White River.
Another dam was part of the flood control plans, but there was some question in Congress as to whether the expense was justified. Business people in northwest Arkansas began as early as 1949 to campaign for the construction of this last dam on the White. Although the federal government's purpose in building the dam was flood control, it was the lake's recreational potential and water supply which local people wanted.
In 1956, Congress authorized the building of Beaver Dam. Work began in 1960 and the dam was completed in 1964. As the Arkansas Highway Department completed a new Arkansas Highway 12 bridge to span Beaver Lake, area residents looked on in wonder, unable to believe that the shallow waters of White River could ever rise so high. But soon the lake began to fill, and the water eventually rose to within a few feet of the bottom of the new bridge.
Everyone in northwest Arkansas was affected by the building of the dam, but the most direct effects were felt by the residents of the valley. Some lost their homes to the lake. Other families saw century-old cemeteries moved to new locations. Of those who lost their homes, some welcomed the move from the valley, which brought better educational opportunities and more modern conveniences. Others were heart-broken.
But this spring the need for the final flood control dam on the White River, Beaver Dam, has been made apparent. Without Beaver Lake, the flooding experienced in eastern Arkansas would have been far worse than it was.
If you would like to learn more about the 1927 flood, here are some good sources Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America by John M. Barry Deep'n as It Come: The 1927 Mississippi Flood by Pete Daniel U. S. Army Signal Corps silent film www. archive. org / details / mississippi _ flood _ 1927 "The American Experience: Fatal Flood"PBS Web site www. pbs. org / wgbh / amex / flood /
Gaye Bland is the director of the Rogers Historical Museum and can be contacted at gbland @ rogersark. org.
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