Tracy Beach

The Night of a Thousand Heroes Tracy Beach

"We have no choice! You have to try and take the train across the bridge!" Switch Foreman Deaton demanded, as he watched the wheels of the Missouri Pacific No. 14 quickly disappear underneath the rapidly rising floodwaters. "I can't even see the bridge! It might not even be there anymore!" Engineer Harris argued, as he shone his flashlight back into the darkness of the raging storm. "We have to go back to the Depot!" At 6pm on June 3, 1921, the residents of Pueblo, Colorado were informed that a wall of water was rushing down the Arkansas River and in a matter of hours they found their city submerged under 21 feet of water. As all hope appeared lost, thousands of people began grabbing anything that would float and conducted one of the bravest rescue missions in human history.