Rainbow Falls Dam

 

Photo Credit

Above is a picture of Handsome Falls which was later renamed to Rainbow Falls. Lewis and Clark named it the former on their way by back in the early 1800's and sometime later, it was renamed to Rainbow falls by the time my 2nd great aunt Clara ventured there in the early 1900's. In fact, by the time Clara Kuck got there, a newly constructed dam and power house had been completed.

Being a big fan of Lewis and Clark and have read their journals in unedited and edited formats over the years, I have always wished I could have seen it when the Missouri River was still free running. Even with the dam, I've thought that someday I would like to stop by and see what remains of the lower part of the falls, the upper part being covered by the impounded waters of the reservoir behind the dam. These days, according to the Google Earth image down at the bottom of this post, only a trickle of water goes over the lower part of the falls now. But the above picture taken when Clara Kuck was there sometime after her return from Germany in 1912 and before 1915 in which her name first appears in the local directory. The dam was only a few years old at that point and the water is still gushing over the lower portions of the falls below the dam.

Back then, liability wasn't as big an issue as it is now and evidently one could travel across the dam and see the gushing waters up close. I suppose she was on some sort of special train car judging by the tracks on top but perhaps she was walking on the boardwalk. 

I was scanning the below modern day aerial view trying to get my bearings and wasn't having much luck so I started searching for the power house on the internet and learned that it was only in recent years razed to the ground. According to the news clip I found sometime around 2024, parts of the structure were salvaged to installed in various places around town. As late as 2020, it was going to be repurposed as a data farm but those plans evidently fell through since it was torn down.

If you would like to watch the news clip, you can do so HERE.

Finally, here is a picture of my 2nd great aunt Clara Kuck holding her camera that she likely took the above photos with. This was taken from a series of photo in nearby Gibson Park which is still there today though nearly completely unrecognizable in the 110+ years that have passed by.

Clara Kuck circa 1914