“The Bosque here is, during the greater part of the time, a small stream, much of its bed is dry in summer, cattle depending on the numerous stagnant holes for drinking water. At times it is a dangerous, rushing, roaring torrent. In this time of terrible danger and devastation most of the unprecedented rainfall has been below Stephenville. Here, though tremendous rains have fallen, the river glides peacefully along, up to this time hardly filling its banks. From the Waco correspondent of the Dallas News of the [July] 2nd is copied this account of the Bosque in the recent terrific overflow: ‘The Bosque, which is a fork of the Brazos, emptying into the latter three miles above Waco, drains the western portion of McLennan, all of Bosque and all of Erath counties and has a large system of tributaries, is largely responsible for today’s rampage in the Brazos. . . . In the district the Bosque system waters the rain today beat anything recorded in the history of the country. There were several cloud-burst and the water in the main Bosque went up about forty feet in a few hours. . . . The wreckage swept into Brazos with the Bosque flood consisted of trees, fences, parts of houses and drowned stock. The main Bosque descends from a mountainous region [Huckabay] and possesses many cascades along its course. . . when it struck costly steel bridges it knocked them winding and bent them double with its gigantic force.'” Erath Appeal, July 6, 1899