When the river town flooded in the spring of 1889, the merchants along Front Street did not wait for the water to recede before quarreling over who would rebuild first. Old Pruett, whose dry-goods store had stood longest, insisted the others follow his lead; the younger shopkeepers, sensing his real fear, simply began hauling lumber while he was still drafting his proclamation. By June the new storefronts had risen in a ragged, mismatched line, each owner having built to his own taste. Pruett's grand unified plan, much admired on paper, was never read past its first page.