And with them went their cattle and horses.
To those in boats--the stronger and more venturesome men--the task now came of removing the wheat and oats, what little furniture they possessed and the necessary cooking utensils.
Blessed, on such occasions, are those who possess little for they shall have no loss.
As the waters rose, the lake became wider, and the wind blew the waves to a dangerous height.

The ice broke up and the current increasing dashed this against the buildings, which at length gave way and all went floating down across the points--ice, log houses with dogs and cats frantic on their roofs.

One eye-witness says: "The most singular spectacle was a house in flames, drifting along in the night, its one half immersed in water and the remainder furiously burning." As the flood of waters widened into a great expanse it became plain that it would be some time,--if indeed less than several months,--before the waters would begin to abate, and in the absence of an Ararat on which to rest, the settlers occupied the rock-bared elevations, the highest Stony Mount, only eighty feet above the level, with the middle bluff, little Stony Mountain and Bird's Hill, east of the river.

It is interesting to know that Silver Heights and the banks of the Sturgeon Creek near its mouth, were not submerged and at their various points the Colonists pitched their tents and sojourned.
In seventeen days from the first rise, the water reached its height, and hope began immediately to return.

On the 22nd of May the waters commenced to assuage, and twenty days afterward the Settlers were able with difficulty to reach their homes again.
But every disaster has its side of advantage.