American River
California
In 1862 the American River flooded so badly that California's new governor had to row to his own inauguration.
The Great Flood of 1862 put much of Sacramento under water for three months. Leland Stanford had just been elected governor. He reached his own inauguration by rowboat. Soon after, the state government packed up and moved temporarily to San Francisco. Part of the blame lay upstream. Hydraulic mining for gold had washed so much debris into the American River that the channel was choked, and the water had nowhere to drain. Sacramento's answer was to lift itself out of reach. The city raised its streets and buildings by as much as nine and a half feet. The old sidewalks and the original first floors of those buildings were left behind underneath. They are still down there, subterranean rooms below the streets people walk today.
This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.
Newly elected Governor Leland Stanford had to travel to his inauguration by rowboat; shortly after, the state government moved temporarily to San Francisco.
Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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