In 2003, for the 75th anniversary of the St. Francis Dam collapse, Los Angeles Times writer Cecilia Rasmussen wrote this article, "An Avalanche of Water Left Death and Ruin in Its Wake." This month marks a grim anniversary in Southern California. March 13, 1928: Whats left of the St. Francis Dam as seen from the air at a point just below the dam. 1928. Then construction flaws came into play. Narrated by Andre Braugher. Some of the bodies found in later months could only be identified by dental records. Fifty years later, bodies from the disaster were still being unearthed. It demolished 1,200 houses, washed out 10 bridges and knocked out power lines. March 13, 1928: Only the supports of the Main Highway Bridge outside Castaic survived after the St. Francis Dam collapsed. March 13, 1928: Railroad tracks at Castaic were left sagging and twisted after the collapse of the St. Francis Dam. Inspiring vibrant communities by connecting the past, present, and future. The slide then carried the eastern portion of the dam with it and unleashed aflood through what had been the eastern abutments. As the water receded it became apparent that their first task was to recover and care for the bodies that were exposed in the debris. But within days a concerted effort was underway to . Why the St. Francis Dam Collapsed - Scientific American So we got in this truck and went up there. All rights reserved, How 3 words could save your life while hiking, Man appears to die from extreme heat in Death Valley National Park, Huntington Beach lifeguard in hospital after suffering on-duty spinal injury, These U.S. states have the best and the worst tap water: Kentucky ranked No. All but one survived. 2. The St. Francis Dam Collapse of 1928 The direction of the abutments may appear to be reversed. There had been warnings. Text by Kirstin Butler, Illustration by Carol Jimnez, Soledad, right, with her cousin Hope and grandparents Maria and Felipe Chavez, whom she called Mamaria and Papalipe. Those closest to the collapse first felt the ground quake violently. Rogers does mention that Mulholland increased the height of the dam during construction by some 11% without compensating for the increased height by broadening the base. St. Francis Dam-Ruins of Collapsed Dam - Yelp Mulholland left Los Angeles with a promise to transform the city from a mythic landscape to a real place populated by people through the expansion of water structures (Lin, 2013). Construction of the dam began in 1924 and finished in 1926. Her long hair snared in its branches, wrenching her up into the air. No ha estado lloviendo, he said of the commotion. As Irene Luna saw the flood approach, she grabbed Soledad and her three siblings and placed them on the bed. Ten thousand people lived downstream. A version of the post was previously published on March 12, 2013. Jen is a web producer at KPBS, responsible for program promotion, online membership-related activities, and is the editor of the KPBS community calendar. The St. Francis Dam disaster was the worst civil engineering failure of the 20th century. Meanwhile, Soledad watched her mother Irene rush to pack up their few belongings. The water carried debris, boulders, mud, trees and anything else in its path away in an unrelenting wave of destruction. Ultimately, the Los Angeles Department of Power and Light paid out close to $7 million in damages, although there was also an attempt at a cover-up concerning details of the disaster. But because "it was so darn dark," Watson had to wait till dawn to take photos. ), Before we begin, lets take a look at how the cross-section of the dam looked and the underlying geological formation on which it was based. Flood in the Desert | American Experience | PBS The blocks in front of the Tombstone were later found to have come from the eastern side of the dam, and apparently sheered off the stepped portion of the lower part of the Tombstone. Charles Outland describes it most movingly in his book, Man-Made Disaster: The Story of St. Francis Dam. But within days a concerted effort was. She knew where every Times employee was, anytime of day or night. The flood wiped out everything in its path: Power stations, homes, oil rigging, ranches, railroad and highway bridges were carried away with the deluge. Heavy rains during fall and winter filled the reservoir and added to the pressure behind the dam. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. Follow the gripping story of the race against time to save San Francisco and the nation from an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1900. If Los Angeles was to avoid shortages, Mulholland saw no option but to take even more water from the Owens Valley. St. Francis Dam - Wikipedia The collapse of the St. Francis Dam late in the evening of March 12th, 1928, which killed at least 500 people and was the largest American engineering disaster of the 20th century. A dam failure or dam burst is a catastrophic type of structural failure characterized by the sudden, rapid, and uncontrolled release of impounded water or the likelihood of such an uncontrolled release. An auto camp near Castaic Junction disappeared with a good chance none of the occupants even woke up. St. Francis Dam was a storage reservoir that was part of the much-disputed aqueduct, located in the San Francisquito Canyon about 40 miles north of Los Angeles proper. Hughes, the chief operator of Power House No. Soledads aunt Ynez was sitting in the cab of the truck holding her youngest child when the waters hit. March 14, 1928: Lawrence Boyd was one of a family of seven who were saved following the St. Francis Dam collapse. What was the basic design of the dam? Recent evaluations have demonstrated that the St. Francis Dam exhibited extremely low safety factors in at least five different failure modes, including internal instability, overturning, arching, keyblock uplift, and reactivation of a megalandslide on the dam's left abutment. This film is available on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS Video app, available on iOS, Android, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. 100 East Main StreetVentura, CA 93001Directions, Research Library at the Museum In years to come, residents of the surrounding area would speak of seeing ghosts along the river bottom, like the spirit of La Llorona, the weeping woman of Mexican myth crying along a riverbed, searching for her drowned children. As the story goes, the rock on the right abutment was unconsolidated sandstone that water could eat through easily. With clean power and abundant water, the citys residents were poised to build a bright new life. Lessons from the St. Francis Dam | Science The dam broke near midnight of March 12, 1928, sending a wave of water and debris down the Santa Clara River watershed. The division's geologists and engineers review and approve dam construction plans and conduct regular inspections. Jen has worked at KPBS since 2000. From the Archives: The 1928 St. Francis Dam collapse The second deadliest disaster in California history, "Flood in the As the massive St. Francis Dam was being built, Mulholland was distracted by plans for an even bigger project Hoover Dam. Still, the destruction is almost unimaginable today given the loss of life and some 24,000 acres of farm and ranch land washed away. Allen provides a summary of the events and a list of the dead who were identified at the time. Join the Museum and you, your family, and guests will enjoy all the special benefits that make being a member of the Museum of Ventura County so worthwhile. 100 East Main StreetVentura, CA 93001Directions, Appointment OnlyWednesdayFriday 11am to 5pm, For library assistance call 805-653-0323 ext 320 or emaillibrary@venturamuseum.org, Agriculture Museum It hasn't been raining. Around 12:45 a.m., what one survivor later called the great black wall of water left the San Francisquito canyon, turning west toward the Santa Clara River Valley and its 10,000 sleeping residents. Get full access to this article Estimates of deaths from the St. Francis Dam collapse vary from about 400 to more than 600. Reports in local newspapers, which are in the collection of the Ventura County Historical Museum Library, indicate that many of the bodies had been carried into the sea. Geologic hazards are the root cause of the St. Francis Dam collapsing. A 140-foot-high flood surge began roaring down the canyon. A roaring 120-foot wave of water crashed down the canyon, demolishing everything in its path. SCVHistory.com | San Francisquito Cyn | St. Francis Dam: Too Big Not to The worst was the San Francisco. One major problem is that loss of the Southern California Edison line that caused Powerhouse #1 to go dark at 11:57:30 pm on March 12, 1928. Instead, telephone operators called communities in the water's path and motorcycle officers raced ahead to communities in jeopardy, the Los Angeles Times reported. The St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, collapsed just before midnight on March 12, 1928. Fifty-six years have passed since the collapse of the St. Francis Dam. Then on the night of March 12, 1928, Watson was dispatched to Castaic. Soledads grandfather was confused. It demolished 1,200 houses, washed out 10 bridges and knocked out power lines. The collapse of the St. Francis Dam was a colossal engineering and human disaster that might have slowed the national project to tame the West. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Harnischfeger, who lived below the dam with his family in a small cottage, called Mulholland to the site to inspect a muddy leak, according to the Los Angeles Times. One included the plaintive request for the picture to be returned as it was the only one the mother had. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Orchards that had been exactly what orchards should be: trees and cleanly cultivated soil were now the repositories of broken houses, bridge timbers, and every conceivable kind of flotsam and jetsam. Sisto placed Soledads four cousins on the wooden flatbed. March 25, 1928: Clearing away debris near Santa Paula following the St. Francis Dam disaster. It swept into Castaic Junction and along the Santa Clara River bed to Piru, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Saticoy and, finally, the sea. The chief engineer of the project was William Mulholland, whose name, of course, is commemorated in a major L.A.-area thoroughfare. Blocks up to 9100 metric tons (10,000 tons) were swept down the canyon as far as 800 meters (1/2 mile). Coffins of seven victims of the dam collapsed are prepared for burial in Santa Clara Valley. She had started that morning like so many Mondays before it, pumping water outside in the cool air and gathering wood for the stove in the small bungalow she shared with her three younger siblings, her mother Irene and father Magdaleno, and Irenes parents, whom Soledad called Papalipe and Mamaria. It offers evidence that workers used "sloppy cement" to plug leaks. Santa Paula had two motorcycle policemen both riding around with bullhorns, using the little Spanish they knew to try to warn people. Full collapse probably took under a minute. The St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, collapsed just before midnight on March 12, 1928. Updated April 8, 2021. Soledad in front of the home into which her grandparents moved after the flood. Seven coffins containing victims of the St. Francis Dam failure in large grave in Santa Clara Valley, Calif., 1928. Water supplied from the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which allowed water to flow south from reservoirs in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains to the dry southern part of the the state, entered the dam in May 1926, giving Los Angeles a reserve system that could last at least a year. Those near the river bed died, and as the onrushing waters continued, the concern became the debris they carriedboulders, buildings, trees, power poles, corpses. It appeared Mulholland had achieved governance over nature -- but there were early signs that was only a fantasy. Residents and workers near the dam, including damkeeper Tony Harnischfeger, noticed problems from the start. It was constructed in a narrow part of the canyon where the east wall is composed of thin-bedded Pelona Schist dipping down toward and underlying the canyon floor. Courtesy of University of Southern California Libraries/California Historical Society. Match. Courtesy Gloria Velasco, A birdseye view of the Santa Clara Valley. Soledad Luna and the St. Francis Dam Disaster The mastermind behind the aqueduct, William Mulholland, an Irish immigrant who had worked his way up from digging ditches for the city, became one of the most respected and powerful men in Los Angeles. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. Produced by Emily Harrold. They observed the wishes of the deceaseds loved ones and shipped the bodies to any place in the United States where the survivors wished to have them buried. St. Francis dam construction began in 1924 at alocation that is upstream from what is now the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia. Today that West is facing a crisis of fire and thirst. One of her letters mentioned that she had read in the paper that several of the employees of the Edison Company were identified by their company clothing badges, but this was not helpful in the case of her lost son. All that remained of the dam was a single column, standing like a tombstone among the devastation. Their patients dont know where they went, Plaschke: Reeling Angels need to swallow hard and trade Shohei Ohtani. Courtesy of UCLA Library Special Collections, Courtesy of UC Riverside, Library, Water Resources Collections and Archives. ", Watson said he stayed at the dam site for two more days, sending his film back to Los Angeles. We sat around there till dawn, and [Harvey] Van Norman, chief engineer for Bill Mulholland, came up with a truck and said hed take us up to the dam, Watson said. In the early 1920s, massive population growth and years of drought convinced Los Angeles city planners they needed a vast and secure water source. Mulholland and his assistant . THE SEARCH FOR WATER September 1904, William Mulholland and Fred Eaton left Los Angeles for a trip by buckboard up the Newhall grade through the Santa Clara Valley and north along the edge of the Eastern Sierras to the edge of the soda filled Owens Lake and its source, the Owens River. Baxter. The force of the water was so great that none of the victims recovered on the first day had on so much as a stitch of clothing. They dynamited sections of the aqueduct, opened up valves to release water and demanded reparations. Where are we going to get it from? When Californias Water Wars Turned Violent. In the earliest hours of March 13, 1928, Oliver Reardon received his first intimation of the disaster. A family traveling over the eastern road at about 11 p.m. on the night of the failure saw lights at the bottom east side of the dam. The folks in the farm towns downstream used to joke that they'd see you later "if the dam don't break. (LogOut/ Soledad awoke to chaos. The St. Francis Dam failed catastrophically upon being filled for the first time, near midnight on March 12, 1928. Five nights later, a long day of work in the orchards downstream came to a close. Edited by Jon Neuburger. The collapse of the St. Francis Dam was a colossal engineering and human disaster that might have slowed the national project to tame the West. March 14, 1928: Telephone operator Louise Gipe at Santa Paula warned area residents of the failure of the dam. These victims were coated with that same oozy mud and had to be cleansed before any identification could take place. The general supposition seems to have been that the dam was built on unconsolidated bedrock, which dissolved as soon as it was exposed to water. Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV + Wednesday, Nov 9 at 8 p.m. on KPBS 2 / On demand now with PBS Video App. ST. FRANCIS DAM DISASTER SITE - The 185-foot concrete St. Francis Dam, part of the Los Angeles aqueduct system, stood a mile and a half north of this spot. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is on Facebook + Instagram + @AmExperiencePBS on Twitter. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Though the Hughes family had lived just below the dam, the childs body was found on the Sespe Ranch. For hours, Soledad clung from the tree as the torrent continued to roll past. Most of those sleepy-eyed individuals had never heard of a St. Francis Dam, and many doubted its existence even as they fled half-dressed to the hills north of town. The Los Angeles resident had loaned her friend money so that she might start a small poultry ranch near Fillmore. Berry, Harley S. (Chief Mechanic, Power House No. Exhuming California's St. Francis Dam Disaster | The Nation The caretaker of the dam called attention to the fact that the lower areas upon which the dam was anchored were mushy and that some leaks were appearing. View of the remaining center portion of the St. Francis Dam, visible after its disastrous collapse. Connect with the Museum through social media: Bonita C. McFarland Scholarships 2023 Award Winners. A makeshift morgue was set up and all available personnel were pressed into service to assist in the grisly work. If so, the west toward should have been the one to go. The total death toll is still a subject of debate. PN43262 OS, MVC Library & Archives collection. Another witness driving along the eastside road about 3 hours before the dam collapsed testified that he had to baby his car over a drop of almost a foot on the road on above the eastern abutment. A headline from the front page of The Arizona Republican newspaper, March 14, 1928. The St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon, about 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, collapsed just before midnight on March 12, 1928. March 1928: Remaining section of St. Francis Dam with crumbled sections at base. It would take 5 1/2 hours to get there, but no official warning would be sounded for considerably more than an hour after the rupture. Today, the St. Francis dam site is an easy stroll off San Francisquito Canyon Road, but no sign or memorial exists, save for concrete debris and . Within five minutes, a powerhouse about a mile and a half downstream was destroyed, taking 35 people with it. William Mulholland Fred Eaton She knew where every Times employee was, any time of day or night. She would say, no, please don't make me relive that.. A memorial next to San Francisquito Power Plant No. USGS. Father and son were numbed by the devastation they witnessed in the early light of day. The folks in the farm towns downstream used to joke that theyd see you later if the dam dont break., Built by William Mulholland, known as the father of Los Angeles municipal water system, the 1,300-foot span of concrete in San Francisquito Canyon held more than 12 billion gallons a years supply for the entire city about 50 miles to the south. The commonly-accepted story also doesnt account for a couple of other facts. Michael Redmon is the director of research at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. The official record of the Claims Bureau of the Citizens' Restoration Committee reported in August 1928 that there were 224 identified deaths, 60 who . The dam keeper, Tony Harnischfeger, summoned Mulholland and Mulhollands chief assistant, Harvey Van Norman, who inspected the dam and vouched for its safety. Suddenly it hit the Santa Paula Bridge like a crash of thunder. Thelma McNabb was one of the lucky ones; she lived to tell her story. AvaTan13. The mattress passed swiftly out of sight. Flashcards. Nine living persons were found in the debris of the river and were first thought to be dead. In other words, Mulholland and Van Allen, having examined the leakage around the dam, simply ignored the obvious, even though theres no evidence to suggest that the seepage was dirty. The headline in the Los Angeles Times of March 17, 1928, declared: "FOUR INQUIRIES UNDER WAY IN VALLEY DAM DISASTER." In the immediate aftermath of the dam break, up to eight agencies began inquiries into the cause of the disaster, including federal, state, county and city governments. The collapse of the St. Francis Dam was a colossal engineering and human disaster that might have slowed the national project to tame the West. "We sat around there till dawn, and [Harvey] Van Norman, chief engineer for Bill Mulholland, came up with a truck and said he'd take us up to the dam," said Watson. March 13, 1928: Aerial view of Santa Paula after it was inundated by the collapse of the St. Francis Dam. But within days a concerted effort was underway to erase it from popular memory. Ironically, Professor Bailey Willis of Stanford University identified a paleolandslide in the Pelona schist on the east abutment just after the time of the landslide. In the aftermath, hearings were held, grand juries called. At a coroners inquest, Mulholland accepted responsibility for the St. Francis calamity; he retired in the fall of 1928. A list of the dead has been compiled from the coroners records and newspaper accounts of the day. March 15, 1928: A giant piece of concrete from the St. Francis Dam that was carried about three-quarters of a mile downstream dwarfs a man standing at lower right. St. Francis Dam disaster, catastrophic dam failure in California on March 12, 1928, that was one of the worst civil engineering failures in American history. Change). Major funding for the programs at the Museum of Ventura County is made possible by, Museum of Ventura County March 14, 1928: Remains of homes in Santa Paula following the collapse of the St. Francis Dam. Only the 1906 San Francisco earthquake accounted for more fatalities. Terms in this set (9) Why was the dam built? Circa 1926 photo of officials at the site of the new St. Francis Dam.

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