A long time Drumheller resident brought back memories of the flood of 1948 when he shared some original photos from the catastrophic and deadly event.
Cal Hume was in his early 20s when the flood hit. In its April 29, 1948 edition, The Mail reported the Red Deer River had “staged a rampage in greater volume that any exhibition since 1915.” Floodwater had reached a peak of 21 feet and homes were destroyed.
Hume was living in East Coulee and recalls the events quite well. He said there was more snow in 1948 than he had ever seen and the conditions were ripe for flooding. He was also witness to what many consider the most dramatic event of the flood, the demolition of a train bridge in East Coulee.
The high spring water flowing through the valley was exacerbated by an ice jam at a train bridge in East Coulee. According to The Drumheller Mail’s account, CPR superintendent F.E Wootton made the decision that the train bridge should be demolished to enable the water and ice to move freely.
Hume recalled they secured two cases of powder from the Empire Mine for the charge.
“We were all standing at the railway crossing, timbers were falling in front of us and behind us, we never thought the blast would be that bad,” he said.
The blast directly caused one fatality during the flood. Peter Jackson witnessed the blast and his wife Dorthea being struck by a piece of timber. She died on April 23.
Hume recalled once the bridge was demolished, the ice and water began to move freely and they could see the water level falling dramatically.
He said the Crown Mine camp was cut off by the river, without food. They were able to send some aid to the miners through a cable ferry.
“Once all the ice got flowing Evo Dufoor came down from Drumheller on a boat to East Coulee, and he brought people back and forth that way and brought food over. In fact one order that went over was beer for the hotel,” chuckles Hume. “They weren’t short of help getting the beer over.”
Coincidentally the images of the train bridge being destroyed came to light because of the flood of 2013. Hume’s home has suffered significant damage because of the flood. While he was cleaning, he came across the small booklet of photographs that show dozens of onlookers on the bank near the bridge. One image shows what appears to be the rafters of a home floating down the river; another shows the bridge straining under the force of the water. There is also a couple of the gigantic blast, which freed the flow of the river.
“A friend of mine took them (the photos), and he gave me a set of them,” said Hume.
