Great Flood of 1881

John Hilger, an early resident of Pierre, South Dakota said, "When the snow started to disappear, it left in a hurry.

The river remained at a high level for several weeks and during the height of flooding was reported to have been 5 miles (8.0 km) wide.

A small one-man skiff was used by three Union Pacific workers who attempted to cross a break in a temporary dam when the river's current pushed it into the main channel.

After the flood in the area south of Council Bluffs, the Missouri River had looped itself in a hairpin bend, leaving an old channel filled with quiet water.

By April 9, the steamboat ferry Lizzie Campbell had difficulty in landing passengers at Nebraska City in deep water.

By the middle of May, the river had risen to the highest point in the history of Nebraska City and Fremont County, Iowa and its course was changed considerably when the waters finally fell to normal.

[5][better source needed] On the morning of April 1, word was received from Yankton, South Dakota that the Missouri River rose thirty-five feet, killing several people and destroying the lowlands in that area.

On the morning of April 9, the North Western Railroad levee bounding Council Bluffs against the river broke and water spread over the west and south sections of the city.

"[4] After that event, from Ninth Street in Council Bluffs west to Omaha and from Carter Lake south beyond the Union Pacific Shops looked like "a sea" dotted with houses and outbuildings like islands.

General Grenville M. Dodge, the chief engineer in charge of the construction of the Union Pacific, had employees ride through the flooded areas to rescue cattle.