The steady rain began on Wednesday, 8 February 1860 continuing until Friday 10th when it poured, with a catastrophic impact, on a large area from Braidwood through to the Coast.1Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954), Monday 20 February 1860, p 3, [THE FLOODS. BRAIDWOOD. [FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.
Araluen Valley, as a lowland between mountains and hills, with many streams and creeks funnelling water along the river to the coast, is susceptible to flooding.
In the February 1860 floods, the bed of the creek at the upper end of the Valley was widened about twenty feet [about 6 metres] and deepened about two feet [about 60 cm]. Trees, rocks, and everything that was in the way of the torrent, was torn up and carried away. The Upper Araluen flat was one vast sheet of water, extending from the bottom of one range to the other. The Sydney Morning Herald2Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954), Monday 20 February 1860, p 3. THE FLOODS. BRAIDWOOD. [FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT reported on 20 February, Mr. Mullins, store-keeper, whose establishment was situated at the junction of the Araluen and Majors Creek, ‘had to stand the shock from the sudden rise of the waters, and, while the building was saved, the property sustained damage estimated at above £1000, with some goods picked up six miles down the creek‘. The Empire3Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850-1875), Monday 20 February 1860, p 3. detailed ‘At Upper Araluen a portion of Mr. Armstrong’s [Peace and Plenty] store fell in, owing to the bank of the Creek having given way. The goods fortunately had previously been removed.‘
All the claims were filled up, and it would take sustained efforts to open them up again. On Friday 10 February 1860, upwards of forty men attempted to save the costly ‘Big Tail Race’, but to no avail, as everything was swept away.4Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW : 1856-1950), Friday 24 February 1860, p 4, THE BRAIDWOOD FLOOD. ARALUEN. (From the Braidwood Dispatch, 18 February 1860).
Bells Creek runs between two high ranges and in flood times the water rises quickly. Chinese miners were fatally swept away at the Bells Creek falls.5Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954), Monday 20 February 1860, p 3, THE FLOODS. BRAIDWOOD. [FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]. The loss of life lower in the Valley included two Johnson children, aged five years and eighteen months, who were swept away at the foot of Clear Hills. The Carney family, including five children, and their Public House, the Cottage of Content, with its contents were all swept away, as was Trooper Smith at the Police Camp.
![Sketches of N. S. [New South] Wales, 1857-1888 / by H. Grant Lloyd](https://araluenvalley-history.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Falls-by-MC-SLNSW_FL207807-736x1024.jpg)
The Illawarra Mercury6Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW : 1856-1950), Friday 24 February 1860, p 4, THE BRAIDWOOD FLOOD. ARALUEN. (From the Braidwood Dispatch, 18 February 1860). reporting on 18 February 1860 wrote ‘The water rushing from the mountain, where there was no creek formerly, appears to have carried away immense gum trees with the same ease that it would a shaving, and in the bed of the creek itself the swamp oaks lie as if they were mowed down by some mighty giants.‘
The flood caused the enormous loss of property, such as tools, furniture, beds, bedding, carts, drays, tubs, and the loss of lives and livelihoods. The Illawarra Mercury7Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW : 1856-1950), Friday 24 February 1860, p 4. went on to say ‘an idea of the dangers of this memorable flood when waves as high as twelve feet were rolling on after each other, carrying away all before them, and the timber that accompanied them, helped greatly to the destruction. Newman’s boarding-house, Barrett’s public-house [Favorite Inn], Crosby’s butcher-shop, North’s old store, Dean’s habitation, Wise’s circulating library, Burt’s public-house, &c, are either sad fragments of their once lively state or are no more … Mr. Vider’s establishment [store] had a very narrow escape from imminent ruin. A blind-creek at the back of the store was not able to contain the torrent that rolled within its banks, and the water, bursting over them, was near carrying away what was in its course, when a number of diggers (who, since danger became imminent, watched the safety of the store) at once worked picks and spades, and mastered the destroying element. At this time the water in front was just reaching the threshold of the door’.
One mile below Mudmelong, once stood Burt’s Public House, the Diggers’ Retreat. Previously a comfortable house, kitchen, and saloon for the family and for any traveller requiring accommodation, but in February 1860, the ground was laid bare. The Empire8Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850-1875), Thursday 19 April 1860, p 8. reported ‘We hear from Broulee that the sea-beach is strewn over with fragments of household furniture and other trophies of the late devastating flood. Some of these, including the swing sign of Burt’s ill-fated public-house, [Diggers Retreat] are recognised as having once belonged to homesteads in the Araluen Valley. Those debris must, in the first instance, have been carried to sea by the mighty rush of the Moruya river, and eventually to their present place, by the strong current which is known to set in towards Broulee from the Moruya heads.’
Food shortages, transportation difficulties and losses created great hardships for many, with hundreds at Crown Flat and Upper Araluen reported as destitute. Acts of support by individuals, storekeepers and publicans, were acknowledged, in the provision of supplies such as meat, flour and potatoes, provided by those who had, to those in need.9Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW : 1856-1950), Friday 24 February 1860, p 4, THE BRAIDWOOD FLOOD. ARALUEN. (From the Braidwood Dispatch, 18 February 1860). ‘Messrs. A. Waddell and McTavish out of their own scanty means, furnished food for all in want in their immediate neighbourhood. Mr. McTavish killed the only beast that he had, and, as far as it went, doled it out to all. Mr. Waddell’s potato paddock also furnished food to the starving, and right generously did he feed the hungry. Higher up, Mr. Atkinson, the store keeper, and Mr. Bruce, Messrs. Eaton and Co.’s storekeeper, also acted a generous and noble part. From this spot (Mudmelong) we have not heard of any prominent acts of kindness till we come to Vider’s store. Here Mr. Buckley, to his great credit, and without awaiting for his principal (Mr. L. A. Vider, of this town), told the poor starving people that he had a ton of flour in the place, and that he would supply it at the rate of 10 lbs. to each family as long as it lasted. Mr. Thomas North [Araluen Arms] also, to the best of his means, furnished food to all that called upon him, and the only stock he had (8 pigs) were killed to supply the wants of the sufferers. From North’s we pass on to Mr. John Gilligan’s Erin-go-Bragh, where man, woman, and child met with a real “cead mile failte [One Hundred Thousand Welcomes]”, and many and loud were the expressions of praise in this generous man’s behalf.’
G Lacy. [1865]. Courtesy Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. National Library of New Zealand
Demonstrating the resilience of the population, by March 186010Goulburn Herald (NSW : 1860-1864), Saturday 10 March 1860, p 2. some claims at Araluen were back at work, and by April 1860 there were a number of steam engines11Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850-1875), Friday 20 April 1860, p 4. draining the claims, providing employment for many. In early May 186012Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW : 1856-1950), Tuesday 8 May 1860, p 4. there was another (smaller) flood, levelling the claims and destroying races, but with no loss of life, and less personal property destroyed. A week later some were back at work again!!
Following the February 1860 flood it was reported that Mr. Cobb, from the Braidwood Flood Relief Committee13Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954), Tuesday 21 February 1860, p 5. attended at Mr. Grover’s, Welcome Inn, Crown Flat in June 186014Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954), Tuesday 5 June 1860, p 5. ‘for the purpose of paying the amounts awarded by the committee to those individuals who claimed relief for damage done by the disastrous floods of February last. Upwards of £1100 was paid away by Mr. Cobb, but we believe that there are still some other applications for relief to be taken into consideration’.
Mrs O’Sullivan15Gundagai Independent and Pastoral, Agricultural and Mining Advocate (NSW : 1898-1928), Monday 27 September 1926, p 4. recollected in an article published in 1926, ‘Up till 1860 the bed of the Araluen River was confined to a very narrow space, rich clover flats stretching away on either bank; in February of that year, however, a big flood occurred, and all the claims in the valley were filled and washed out by the flood waters. From that time onward the whole configuration of the valley was changed, the bed of the river expanding with each successive flood, until finally the clover flats entirely disappeared.’