January 8, 1850 On this day in 1850, the city of Sacramento suffered from its first major flood. The previous evening, a large storm left the Sacramento River swollen. Water began to overflow as well at the slough just north of I and Second Streets. The lower portions of the city were quickly under water. By the next day, according to the Placer Times newspaper, the flood water reached as far as a mile from the Embarcadero (where Old Sacramento is today) and very few buildings in the city did not have standing water on their first floors. Most of the buildings in the city were made from canvas and wood, which didn’t stand up against the flood. Patients in hospitals were relocated to Sutter’s Fort, one of the only areas in the city with high ground. The flood was just a matter of time. A colossal 12.5 inches of rain fell in December 1849, and then another 4.5 inches in the first week of January 1850. Stephen Masset wrote in his memoir, “It had been raining fearfully for many days,...