T H E T ES T OF TIM ES WH E N S IOUXLA ND A N S WE R ED THE C A L L Presented by
2 | THE TEST OF TIMES Copyright © 2022 by Sioux City Journal All Rights Reserved • ISBN: 978-1-63846-033-6 No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher. Published by Pediment Publishing, a division of The Pediment Group, Inc. • www.pediment.com Printed in Canada. Acknowledgments Photos curated by Caitlin Waite
The Sioux City Journal is pleased to present of must be noted, however, that this unique would not have been possible without the generous contributions made by many people from virtually every corner of our community and their willingness to help others in times of need.
Times: When Siouxland Answered the Call. It
The Test
book
Special thanks to the Sioux City Public Museum for their contribution to this project.
Foreword T here are monuments and statues throughout Siouxland that reflect the determination, dedi cation and drive of the people they honor.
The Flight 232 Memorial commemorates the he roic rescue efforts following the crash of United Airlines Flight 232 on July 19, 1989. And the Public Safety Memorial near City Hall re members those police officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty. In other parts of the region, you can find tributes to veterans; in cemeteries you can get a glimpse of the lives of residents.
Stories abound, particularly when people are put to the test. When disaster strikes — floods, tornados, storms — the best in people often rises to the top. You can see examples in the photos we have included here. Look closely at the faces and you’ll see emo tions you, too, have experienced.
The Sergeant Floyd Monument — the first National Historic Landmark in the United States — salutes Charles Floyd, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition who died on the voyage in 1804 and was buried here.
In the aftermath of a disaster, you’ll note how peo ple are almost wearing blinders. They know there’s a job to be done and they’re not going to give up or go home. They’re there to get a job done.
Bruce EditorMiller
INTRODUCTION | 3
Don’t look at this volume as a chronicle of the trag edies that have affected our lives. View it as the times Siouxlanders were tested and how they responded.
You’ll find inspiration in the photos; you’ll also feel gratitude to live among people who spring into action, no matter what the situation and who is involved.
The Sioux City Journal
INTRODUCTION | 5 OPPOSITE: A rescue worker surveying the damage after the grain elevator explosion at the Bartlett Grain Company’s Leeds facility, April 30, 1974. SIOUX CITY MUSEUM Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE: 1800 s–190 9 ................................................................. 7 CHAPTER TWO: 1910 –1929 ................................................................ 25 CHAPTER THREE: 1930 –1949 ............................................................ 39 CHAPTER FOUR: 1950 –1969 .............................................................. 53 CHAPTER FIVE: 1970 –1989 ................................................................. 73 CHAPTER SIX: 1990 –2009 .................................................................. 89 CHAPTER SEVEN: 2010 –2021 .......................................................... 107 BUSINESS PROFILES ........................................................................... 126 INDEX ....................................................................................................... 133
When the final figures were reported, 25 residents had died fromWhiledrowning.allparts of the community were affected, Leeds suffered the greatest damage. Levees that had been built to the north held the water in, not back. Streets were pooled with water and mud.
1800 s–190 9 | 7
OPPOSITE: The mangled wreckage of a train wreck in Sioux City, Sept. 20, 1899. SIOUX CITY MUSEUM
True to their resilient nature, residents didn’t give up. When the water cleared, cleanup began. Rebuilding followed. Officials looked for ways to prevent such a disaster from recurring.
Flooding, though, would continue to be part of the Sioux CityMorestory.pressing?
Like the businesses destroyed by flooding, the fire-damaged buildings were replaced with new ones and another era was ready to unfold.
And then? A muddy wave swept through the city the next morn ing. The deluge was so unexpected residents climbed onto roof tops and the elevated railway tracks. The flooding — the second worst in the history of the city — left more than 3,000 homeless.
The stockyards — the heart of industry — was damaged; the busi ness, crippled. Cattle and hogs were swept away by the water.
CHAPTER ONE 1800s–1909 S ioux City was in an expansion phase in the late 1800s. River traffic was high. Businesses were springing up. Life looked good. When rain threatened to send water out of the banks of the Missouri and Floyd rivers, residents were prepared. Until the spring of 1892.
A fire on Dec. 23, 1904. Called the “great fire,” a blaze at the Pelletier Department Store. In the store’s basement, a match used to light a steam en gine ignited cotton and paper streamers. In minutes the building went up in flame. The fire spread across the street and, soon, two blocks of businesses were on fire.
A constant rain on May 16 made Sioux Cityans a bit nervous. Continued rain on May 17 saw the Floyd rise.
One person died when he jumped from a fourth-floor apart ment to a safety net. His body struck a telephone cable and tossed him to the pavement below.
ABOVE RIGHT: Aftermath of the St. Elmo Hotel fire in 1886. From a Sioux City Journal article about the incident: “St. Elmo Goes Up In Flames — About 3:20 this morning Kingsley was aroused from its usual quiet order by the cry of fire. In fifteen minutes the whole town was aroused and rushed to the scene of the conflagration, on Division Street, where the St. Elmo Hotel was found to be in flames. The fire had made such headway that nothing could be done to save the building and the attention of the crowd with their buckets and ladders was turned to the saving of the Curtis house and residence of T. B. S. O’Dea. The city is now awake to the fact that it needs and should have, some fire protection.” SIOUX CITY MUSEUM
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RIGHT: A collision between a streetcar and a Chicago, Milwaukee and Puget Sound railcar around the turn of the 20th century. SIOUX CITY MUSEUM
ABOVE: The Tolerton-Stetson Company wholesale grocery store at Pearl and Second streets after being destroyed by fire in 1891. SIOUX CITY MUSEUM
BELOW: Looking west down Washington Street from Steuben Street following the Sioux City flood, May 18, 1892. SIOUX CITY MUSEUM
LEFT: Debris littered across Steuben Street south of Fourth Street after the Sioux City flood, May 19, 1892. The elevated railway is visible in the background. SIOUX CITY MUSEUM
1800 s–190 9 | 9
atural disasters rarely come with a warning. That was true when tornadoes touched down April 9, 2011, in Pocahontas and Mapleton, Iowa. In Mapleton, alone, more than 100 homes and businesses were destroyed or damaged. Trees were uprooted, windows were blown out of vehicles. Devastation was everywhere. Overall, the tornadoes caused more than $2 billion in damage as they made their way from the Midwest to theJustSoutheast.ascleanup efforts were starting, another area of concern emerged: flooding. In 2011, heavy snowfalls in the Rocky Mountains and record rainfalls in Montana meant potential problems for those along the Missouri River. When the six dams along the river released record amounts of water, the scene was set. Closer to home, heavy May rains in the basin — almost a year’s worth — meant flooding wasTheinevitable.flooding made crossing the river treacherous. Twelve bridges across the Missouri River were temporarily closed. With the bridge at Decatur, Nebraska closed, there was no place to cross the river for 100 miles between Sioux City and Omaha.
On June 3, residents of Dakota Dunes were urged to evacuate. Many did; some stayed put.
Throughout Siouxland, sandbagging efforts were a daily occur rence. Businesses closed; motel rooms filled; contractors worked around the clock. Floodwaters peaked on July 21 but didn’t recede fully until September. That’s when the clean-up and rebuilding began. The cost: More than a billion dollars. In the following decade, the region wasn’t immune to other disasters — a train derailment, an elevator explosion, apartment fires, other storms, more flooding. What ties them all together?
EvenTenacity.though it may have been easy for Siouxlanders to give up, theyRebuilding,didn’t. reimagining, regrouping have always been hall marks of the region’s residents. When disaster came knocking, Siouxland knew how to answer the call.
OPPOSITE: Brent Steffens and George Hamilton filling sandbags along the riverfront in anticipation of an expected flood, Sioux City, June 2, 2011. SIOUX CITY JOURNAL
On June 10, WinnaVegas Casino was surrounded by water. To keep the Sloan, Iowa, facility open, officials brought in “duck” boats that provided rides from I-29 to the casino.
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TIM HYNDS SIOUX CITY JOURNAL
ABOVE LEFT: Jefferson Fire Department member Gary Schaeffer directing traffic through floodwaters at the intersection of East Dakota and Main streets in Jefferson, S.D., on March 13, 2019. Interstate 29 traffic was being diverted through the town after the interstate north of Jefferson was shut down due to a traffic accident involving hazardous materials.
OPPOSITE: Firefighters working to put out hot spots in an apartment building fire at The Arbors complex on East 17th Street in South Sioux City, Neb., June 4, 2020. Firefighters from several departments responded to the blaze which appeared to have totally destroyed the building.
LEFT: First responders and railroad crews working at the scene of a Union Pacific train derailment on the southwest edge of Sibley, Iowa, May 17, 2021. The town was evacuated Sunday afternoon after 47 railroad cars derailed and caught fire, causing a hazardous materials situation. No one was in jured in the derailment. Impacted cars on the train contained hydrochloric acid, potassium hydroxide and asphalt, accord ing to a Union Pacific official.
TIM HYNDS SIOUX CITY JOURNAL
TIM HYNDS SIOUX CITY JOURNAL
TIM HYNDS / SIOUX CITY JOURNAL
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ABOVE: Damage at 3294 Hancock Ave. in rural Smithland, Iowa, after severe weather struck early in the evening on Dec. 15, 2021. There were numerous reports of tornados and damage throughout Siouxland after the rare December storm passed through.
