Golden History Museum & Park Shared Tucker Gulch: A History Of Destruction

Press release from the Golden History Museum & Park:

October 3, 2020

This post is part of a series on the History of Golden and the City of Golden Cemetery, located at 755 Ulysses Street, Golden, Colorado. Originally published online by onetime Golden City Manager (1950s) Arthur Lowther, each entry was written by a member of Debra Pearce’s AP history class of Golden High School in 2008 and is now copyrighted by Golden History Museum & Park.
Lowther is the author of The History of Golden and its Golden City Cemetery. Read more about this project here.

The history of Golden, Colorado, is an illustrious one filled with human achievement, immense opportunity, and progressive development. The less desirable qualities of death, destruction, and loss, however, can be found within the very same chronicles. As a part of Golden history, Tucker Gulch has been mentioned frequently, although usually within the confines of these latter traits. Tucker Gulch’s history finds itself intertwined with numerous stories of natural disasters, giving it a near-legendary status among natural hazards of the Golden area. The historical significance, infamous floods, and current issues of Tucker Gulch give it a permanent place within Golden’s ever expanding history.

Tucker Gulch was named for Alfred Tucker, an important regional judge in the late 1800s. He began his illustrious career as a minor landowner in Clear Creek Canyon. He was also the man who, during the Civil War era and most of the 1860s, operated the toll road that led from Golden to Blackhawk in upper Clear Creek Canyon. This earned him important status and wealth within Colorado, and eventually elevated him to his higher political offices. The southern portion of West 82nd Avenue was named Tucker Road, which also ran straight through the gulch. This road was widely known as West 82nd Avenue and Denver View Street, as well as Tucker Road. The gulch itself is commonly known as Clear Creek Canyon and its surrounding network of tributaries and floodplains.

Tucker Gulch is located in Jefferson County, Colorado, and is positioned to the northwest of Golden, by current day Highway 93. The area it covers is constantly changing with new erosion and human impediments blocking its natural course. Tucker Gulch, at its largest, incorporated all of Golden and most of the Clear Creek area, and stretched the entire length of the Rocky Mountains up to Boulder. Guy Hill School, a historic grade school now located in Golden, was near the peak of the gulch, and was frequently threatened by floods in the area.

Spring runoff in Tucker Gulch had been an issue for settlers from the moment they began to homestead in the region. A good example was the flood season of 1878, when two floods occurred in late summer, one on July 24 and one on August 28. Both were flash floods, but the latter caused a much greater amount of property destruction. “On the north side the damage was much heavier, as a tremendous body of water came down Tucker’s Gulch… sweeping everything in its path.” Several bridges were taken out, with massive train delays and transportation issues adding to the destroyed crops and farmland. Nothing was done to prevent another disaster like this one, but repairs were immediate and most were concluded within the week.

An earlier flood in 1872 had been even more destructive, resulting in loss of life. Four unwitting people, Mr. Jack Virden, Mrs. Virden, Miss Virden, and Miss Blood were riding back home in a carriage when the flood caught them unprepared. All four were cast into the bottom of Tucker Gulch, but Mr. and Mrs. Virden were able to cling onto some stable limbs. The two younger girls were not so lucky. “The poor girls—Miss Blood and Virden, aged respectively twelve and fourteen years—were less fortunate… [The body] of Miss Blood [was] mutilated beyond recognition… [Miss Virden was] lodged against a tree, stripped of [her] clothing.” Mr. Blood, the father of one of the girls, became the first to find his daughter’s corpse when returning to the mountains from Golden. No details are given of his emotional reaction; only that he tried his hardest to recover his daughter’s remains. Both of the bodies were found quickly, and the roads were cleared almost as fast. In the aftermath, only a cautionary warning and safety procedure for storms of this sort were given as preventative measures. An earlier flood is mentioned that endangered the lives of Generals Grant, Sherman, and Sheridan in the very same Tucker Gulch. One must wonder if Tucker Gulch could have impacted the outcome of the Civil War.

20th Street – June 27, 2004. The flood of 1896 was perhaps the most infamous of the Tucker Gulch floods, and resulted in major loss of human life. It was yet again, the Tucker Gulch trademark flash flood, without any prior warning and carrying debris of all sorts. It would be commonly referred to as “that black Friday, July 24th, 1896.” The lucky people, like the family of William Trailler, were able to escape and retain their homes by opening their doors to allow water to pass through them, but not carry them away. Della Horner, May Horner, Miss Holmes, and Mrs. Warren were the four unlucky people who lost their lives traveling up the canyon immediately prior to the flood. Their bodies were smashed, their horses were killed outright, their wagon utterly destroyed, and their various garments strewn all around the area. Other casualties of the flood include two unnamed families of campers from Denver and a citizen of Morrison, Mr. Moses Miller. Yet again, no action to prevent another tragedy like this one was documented, but repairs and body retrieval began immediately.

Most of the victims were never found, but those who were discovered were often too battered to be transported to the local cemetery. This led to most of the corpses being buried on the spot, where the crude memorials quickly wore away. There are few flood victims that were buried in the Morrison and Clear Creek cemeteries, and even less in the Golden cemetery.

July 24th, 1896, near 10th and Ford Streets in Golden, Colorado. Currently, Tucker Gulch is still a high-risk area for flash floods, and can be proven by the high flood insurance rates required to own a home in that area. Flood rate is so high, in fact, that many insurance companies refuse to insure against flood damage, forcing the Golden city administration to sponsor private providers of insurance. Loss of life is possible, but not likely due to the new flood paths dictated by human habitation. On another note, if a flood were to occur that would endanger lives, it would be certain that many lives would be lost due to the much higher population of the area. Property damage would be astronomical compared to earlier floods because of inflation, new construction, and public acclimation to infrequent flooding. Erosion and stormwater routes have greatly impacted the flow of possible floods, making it difficult for stormwater to flood the suburbs below Clear Creek Canyon. The Urban Drainage and Flow Control District has also placed automated water flow gauges within many surrounding gulches, including Tucker Gulch, allowing for instant flood recognition and an early warning for disaster.

Other safety systems and procedures have been put in place to reduce damage from flooding and to provide flash flood warning systems. Early runoff, immense amounts of storm water, or even quick snowmelts have all contributed to the need for these precautions. Power equipment, such as trucks and loaders, are kept on standby for immediate utilization in time of a disaster. Emergency stores of fuel, repair kits, and non-perishable foodstuffs are also provided by the very same Public Works Department of Golden.

Tucker Gulch still holds potential for severe natural disaster, and it is likely that any floods in our day and age would cause much more property damage, although new safety procedures would prevent loss of life. This is slightly disconcerting, as Tucker Gulch appears to have a flood with the same intensity as the more destructive ones about every hundred years, earning them the moniker, “100-year-storms.” The latest 100-year-storm was on June 27th, 2004, but only minor flood damage was encountered. Every ten years or so, a flood occurs that does not cause much extreme damage or any loss of life, but will, at about a 96% rate, destroy parts of houses situated within the floodplain.

Tucker Gulch is an infamous flood basin with extreme potential for future disaster. New safety procedures seem appropriate, even if they are only the best preparations that can be made for a spontaneous event. The only true test of the full safety network can, and (if history has any impact on the present) will be a full-force Tucker Gulch flood.

This press release was produced by the Golden History Museum & Park. The views expressed are the author's own.