By the mid-1970s, the families were just trying to survive. Floodwaters regularly overtook the property. Sometimes sandbags arrived but, more often than not, families jerry-rigged their own blockade, strewing together car parts on cables and buttoning them down on each end in an attempt to repulse the river.
In December 1975 came the declaration of a disaster area. Water levels rose four or five feet above the bankline. Three families evacuated. Wells and septic tanks were washed out. As described in a letter to the bia, the floodwaters “undermined several trailer homes which were moved to higher ground.” In 1976, floods destroyed a building and a dock and took more of the shoreline. Billy was frustrated that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the BIA had done nothing to solve the problem. “I’ve stood on these banks with Corps officials and talked about the problem,” Billy complained. “The[y] blame someone else, that someone else blames another. But passing the blame doesn’t solve the problem.” The Corps responded that its hands were tied—Frank’s Landing was private property. The BIA said it wasn’t “geared for disasters and we don’t get any money for disasters.” Billy accused the bureau of negligence. “We demand affirmative action immediately from those agencies responsible and liable.”
The Frank’s Landing family ultimately made a formal request of Congress for emergency funding to pay for a protective, temporary barrier and replacement land for the lost acreage: “Frank’s Landing is Indian Land held in restricted trust status by the United States, and the United States is obligated by treaty to protect such lands.” The request came after more than a decade of appeals to the BIA and various government entities.
Rechanneling the river would be too costly, Billy concluded, and with his father settled on the notion of replacement lands from the federal government. They targeted nearby land that could accommodate their homes, school, and a fisherman’s life. The notion won the endorsement of the hydraulic engineer who studied the problem, U.S. senators Warren Magnuson and Henry Jackson, and several other members of Congress.
The Frank’s Landing family proposed U.S. Army land tucked between the I-5 bridge and the North Pacific Railroad Bridge as a suitable replacement. The area had been the scene of various crimes— rapes, shootings, and stolen cars. “Target practice” transpired on the land that unfortunately relied on moving objects at Frank’s Landing. Several animals had been killed. But homes and schools could sit safely on the replacement land while allowing the river to meander as nature directs it. In 1976, Billy applied for a permit with the U.S. Army to build structures that control erosion, open a pre-existing channel of the river, and recover acres that had washed away.
Finally, federal funding paid for riprap in 1977 to hold the river back. The riprap washed out in the 1996 flood and was replaced later that year.
Next: Chapter Nine | The Shelf Life of Treaties
