Red River Rising: The Anatomy of a Flood and the Survival of an American City

Title Page, Copyright, Dedication

≤ed ≤iver The Anatomy of a Flood and the Survival FPO ii ≤ising of an American City Ashley Shelby FPO iii Borealis Books is an imprint of the Minnesota Historical Society Press. The Minnesota Historical Society Press is a member of the Association of American University Presses. www.borealisbooks.org©2003 by Ashley Shelby. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission , except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, write to Borealis Books, 345 Kellogg Blvd. W., St. Paul, MN 55102-1906. Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence for Printed Library materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. International Standard Book Number 0-87351-500-5 (cloth) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shelby, Ashley, 1977– Red River rising : the anatomy of a flood and the survival of an American city / Ashley Shelby. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-87351-500-5 (alk. paper) 1. Floods—North Dakota—Grand Forks Region. 2. Floods—Red River of the North. 3. Disaster relief—North Dakota—Grand Forks Region. I. Title. GB1399.4.N9S54 2003 978.416—dc22 2003025177 Title page photograph: Looking west across the Sorlie Bridge from East Grand Forks, Minnesota, to Grand Forks, North Dakota, on April 21, 1997, the day the Red River of the North reached its highest recorded flow. Photo by Steven W. Norbeck, United States Geological Survey. iv For my father v vi ...