The Story
In 1988, the band Kansas released the studio album In the Spirit of Things. It is a concept album
based on a true story of the small town of Neosho Falls, Kansas, that was wiped out by a flood in 1951.
The album's songs are like vignette pieces, snapshots of the lives of the townspeople at the time of the
flood. The album opens with the song "Ghosts," which tells of the impression a modern-day visitor gets while
wandering through the town, whose damaged and deserted structures still stand for the most part. Near the end
of the album is the song "Rainmaker," which is a fanciful conjecture on why the flood struck the town.

The reality is that a severe rain event caused this historic flood in eastern central Kansas in 1951. I found
the scanned page below in a book on severe weather. It gives details on the rain event which probably caused the
flood which wiped out Neosho Falls. For 4 days, July 9-12, 1951, 10-15 inches of rain fell on the watershed of the
Kansas and Neosho rivers, causing widespread flooding in the area. And for Neosho Falls, somewhat downstream
of the heaviest rainfall but right on the Neosho River, the floodwaters must have come swiftly and overspread the
town.

I have reproduced the page below purely for the interest of Kansas fans everywhere. It is taken from the book
Severe and Unusual Weather, 2nd ed., by Joe R. Eagleman. I hope you enjoy this insight into the true story that
inspired this great Kansas album.