The cabin ended up wedged between two cottonwoods and the Byers family had to be rescued by small boat. A log cabin was built in the area for the Byers family, but they ran into flooding troubles when the South Platte and Cherry Creek overflowed in 1864. William Byers, a surveyor and farmer, acquired 160 acres of farmland along the east bank of the South Platte River, stretching from West Bayaud Avenue down to West Virginia Avenue. Similar to many adventurers interested in prospects for gold, the Byers Party and family made their way from Omaha to Auraria in the late 1850s. Sumner were responsible for platting more than half of today’s Baker neighborhood. Known as the “Byers Party,” William Newton Byers, John L.