Welcome to Wild Weather Wednesday. We’ll post a photo from our collections depicting an extreme weather event from Nebraska’s past.
Stereoview: Missouri River flood at Niobrara. RG2118.PH000005-000014
Niobrara in Knox County was established in the spring of 1857 along the Missouri River about a mile southeast of its confluence with the Niobrara River. The location was chosen to provide easy access to steamboat traffic. However, its location was moved after the great flood at the end of the winter of 1881. The town was moved a second time in 1971 when ground water rose due to the creation of the Fort Randall Dam and later the Gavins Point Dam which created the Lewis and Clark Lake. The relocation of Niobrara in 1881-82 cost an estimated $40,000; the 1970s relocation cost an estimated $14.5 million.
