Ellen B.

Written Memory

June 10, 2009

I am a native of Rapid City, born when Canyon Lake was still in the county in 1946. I experienced the floods of 1952 and 1962, my father carried us on his back in 1952 to get us out of water waist deep on him. I was not in Rapid City in June of 1972, I was in Iowa, only my youngest brother was here, it took days to find out he was alive, no phone service into the state. I listened at my ex brother-in-law's house to the "6 O'Clock net" on the Ham radio, about the electric lines down in the streets, they needed portable generators, I came back to the flood plain in the fall of 1972, my parents were still in their house but not for long, the golf course is where my house was, and only the trees remain. But I was a lucky one, the man who is my husband now lost his mother and stepfather, he had to go around to makeshift morgues looking for them, he and his 18 year old half brother, no brothers should have to do such an awful thing. If the parents had stayed home they would have lived, but they worked as night cleaners at Meadwood Lanes in West Rapid, the wall of water caught them as they crossed Rapid Creek about where McDonalds is now. They all were the sacrifice for what we have and we must never forget them. The old and the very young too, all were the sacrifice, and we must never let that have been in vain, we must remember. I am writing the obituaries for them all, to be part of the Journey Museum Flood exhibit, if anyone wants to add information to what I have please contact me, ellenb7580@aol.com