"Mulholland did not exonerate himself. Don't blame anyone else. You just fasten it on me. If there was an error in human judgement, I was the human and I won't try to fasten it on anyone else." I can't imagine ANYONE taking responsibility like that today.
As a teen growing up in Santa Clarita, I was thrilled to be a new driver and went wandering. Up an isolated canyon, I stumbled over huge chunks of tumbled concrete, baffled as to what they had once been. It wasn't until many years later I heard about this disaster. Sobering stuff to be sure.
Not forgotten at all by many residents of Santa Paula. I was born and raised there in 1947 and it was spoken about well into the 1960’s when I left Santa Paula.
We still talk about it all the time. I was just telling my daughter about it the other day. Both my grandmothers have talked about living through it, one in SP and the other in Fillmore. It’s forever left it’s mark on us.
Thanks for covering this historical event! My father, Russell Firebaugh, was a member of a Southern California Edison workcrew, and their camp was located near the riverbed, a few miles below the St. Francis Dam. This information is well documented. While sleeping in their work tents, they were hit by the 50 foot high wall of water around midnight. He rode some debris downstream until a whirlpool allowed him to reach the shoreline. He then found a lone farmhouse and was helped by the farmer and his wife. About half of his Edison workmates didn't make it out. Obviously, had he not survived, I wouldn't be typing this. 🙂
Thirty five years later in December of 1963 the Baldwin Hills dam failed. This was documented on live TV at the time. The horrific fires laying waste to LA county is a stark reminder of the need to use resources prudendly. Prayers to those affected.
It’s incredible to think that decisions made over a century ago about water management still shape life in Los Angeles today. The foresight (and sometimes lack thereof) is remarkable.
After seeing it, and Roger Rabbit, I figured out that California is nice to visit, but there's no way I'd live there. Multiple trips in and out truck driving reinforced that conviction.
@@nomadmarauder-dw9re I was on Jeopardy! in 1994, and my shows were taped two weeks after the Northridge quake. Back home, it was a severe cold snap with temps below 0; and it's 65 degrees in LA and I was like, yeah, I can see why people live here. Then I saw how subtle earthquake damage could be, and thought, this is why I live where I do. We have a saying here; In Buffalo, the weather has the good taste to stay outside. Compared to the other stuff, snow is not a problem.
I like your comment, I to am from Buffalo, but I moved to Virginia near Fairfax County. I went through In God we trust and electing Donald J Trump president#47! h the 5.3 5.7, earthquake there is differing opinions and I will tell you that no way could I live in an earthquake prone area? However, I have been through three floods luckily there was no current involved. But you still lose just about everything. Back in the 50s and 60s we had good forestry management. You could tell just by going hunting. Most of the forest I visited were very well kept. I believe California was also like that back in the day. There is not one entity to blame on this horrific inferno, except maybe the lawyers, the environmentalist, the governor, and all the rest of the woke liberal DEI Government officials out there. I feel sorry for the carnage and the people who have lost their livelihood and who have lost their lives, but that’s what happens when you elect representatives like you have the last three decades. I have high hopes that President elect number 47 can turn this country around and make it great again.
Good episode. Mulholland is a modern tragic hero. It's also heartening to see a government official own it and resign - not too many around like that these days. Two of my sons went to college hear Santa Paula, so I'm familiar with the area. I kept waiting for you to mention the two motorcycle cops who are commemorated by a statue in Santa Paula for their efforts to warn the residents to get to higher ground.
Can you do a video about Hebgen dam and the 1959 earthquake in Montana? The Hebgen dam stood strong while the landslide created Earthquake Lake!!! I visited that area when I was young. I think that is history that deserves to be remembered!!!
Brilliant production! I grew up east of the destruction in Canyon Country (now Santa Clarita) and have always been a history nerd and know a decent amount about the St. Francis Dam disaster. Your research is spot on and I appreciate you not confusing the Santa Clara River and Santa Clarita's names. Often times people call the river Santa Clarita and the city Santa Clara.
My grandmothers grandfather ran a small trucking family trucking firm in the San Fernando Valley. His 1928 diary mentions transporting some of the departed to Bakersfield.
My grandfather said the worst thing that ever happened was Mulholland bringing water to the area to artificially support the growth of LA. Our families were there since 1900.
There's a great book out there written by Mulholland's granddaughter... that gives an unbiased biography on her grandfather. An interesting story that has been so distorted even back in his time. A must read.
I just learned about an event called the Ludlow Massacre that happened in Colorado in 1914. But I can’t find too much information on TH-cam about it. Can you do an episode on it?
So Mulholland took responsibility? With our current issues regarding the fires in Los Angeles, from the governor on down nobody seems to want to take any responsibility these days...
I've been wanting to suggest that covering the Black Saturday bushfires Saturday, 7 February 2009 in Victoria Australia might be worthy of consideration. One hundred and seventy three people died, thousands of homes and other dwellings were destroyed. Yet this event is all but unknown outside of Victoria. A youtube search for the key words 'black Saturday fires documentary' would yield results for a starting point.
Extremely interesting and informative. The socal water story of the aqueduct is fascinating!Very timely considering the disaster unfolding currently in California.
There's a great book out there called "Floodpath" by John Wilkman. A awesome story that really explains the history... both engineering and human... of the aqueduct. A must.
Drought prone, and wildfire prone southern California is still proving to be more powerful than the money loving decisions made by developers, and city officals in the southlands of the state. These recent massive fires, that were caused by drought, and strong winds (which happen there normally), and someone or something setting them off, are the result of homes etc being built up in the hils that are covered with brush and grasses that only grow there do to the dry climate of SoCal. The only thing that politicians need to be blamed for is allowing said houses to be constructed in known fire prone areas.
oy... I live in LA, within 10 miles of the fires. I don't mean to slam on you personally, but it makes me gnash my teeth so hard every time I hear something like this right now. Fire season hits the canyons every year, and the areas that got hit are always well-known wind-funnel valleys. this has nothing to do with water, that is a disgusting politicization of what's going on that fits a narrative being pushed and has a really slight connection to reality
@@skydiverclassc2031 The discussion appears to be nuanced around land mismanagement that would eventually lead to a large scale fire and resource mismanagement where water could have greatly helped in *some* of the areas.
Dragnet was a TV show in the 50s (the 1967 version was a revival) and on the radio in the late 1940s. IIRC, the ‘This is the city’ was used in the first television incarnation.
There is still no monument at the dam site, and most people commuting along San Francisquito Canyon have no idea that the area five miles above where Dry Gulch intersects was once under water.
What? No one "commutes" on that road. The only reason you'd ever have to be on that road is to go check out the site, or be heading to a campsite or hiking trail out there. And yeah, there's a plaque and pretty memorable huge, bright blue sign there right outside of the current power station that you literally cannot miss
@@yikemoo Lived here for 30 years. San Francisquito canyon road is commuted every day. Between 4 and 7 PM on a weekday It takes several minutes to get out of my driveway because the road is so congested with commuters. Now in the age of cell phone navigation, when the 5 or the 14 get shutdown, navigation apps send people here. The last time it happened, my 20 minute drive up the canyon took 2 and a half hours because the traffic was so thick. 18 wheelers tried to use the narrow road and one jack knifed on one of the small bridges and damaged it. There is now a sign at the bottom of the canyon, right as you turn off that tells truckers not to use the road.
What's crazy is that I drove by it for years and never actually knew it. I knew where it was, but never noticed the dam while driving by. It's not until you get out and hike next to it and really look around that you can notice it. Mother nature has reclaimed so much of it. The large chunks of rock, that look natural, when you walk up to them you can see rebarb embedded in the rocks. The area where the old road used to split off (before the new road was constructed after a flood 15 years ago) and the new road just looks like a natural part of the mountain. If you climb up there, you can see the posts sticking out that used to hold a chain. That's what's left of the top of the dam.
Mulholland was an arrogant man who thought that he could be an engineer, without holding the proper credentials. Kinda like an orange fool who would be king.
Impressive that you can roll this very topical material out within such a brief timeframe. Up next in the Cali water crisis topical viewing binge I will be watching Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson.
I lived in the Santa Clarita Valley from 1988-2000. I used to hike around the ruins. Not much is evident... One can see a difference in the age of the trees from above where the dam stood and where the deluge happened.
California. The most water hungry state in the US. The state of CA holds the most water rights on the Colorado River, a river that does not hardly cross the state except for the bottom of it. This is the state that believes they should have all of its water rather than Mexico have its due water rights thus only a trickle flows into the Pacific. This is the state that tried to steal water from the Snake River in Idaho and the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington. Mind you the residents WON'T conserve water as they believe that it is limitless. One of the Kardashian's blatantly stole water whilst the State was under strict restrictions with no repercussions. Plus the state WON'T do what is necessary by building desalination plants. I have zero sympathy for them one single bit.
El Pueblo de Nuestra Madona La Regna de Los Angeles y Todos Santos. The name got shorter as the village got bigger. The Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area now covers most of two counties. I attended Mulholland Jr. High.
It would be nice if California cared more about its people than a two inch fish. Letting water run into the sea in 2024 is insane. Edit: If the responses below are from California voters then they deserve everything they get.
It's a long running right-wing talking point, to pile onto a conservation effort as if the natural world does not matter. You're just mindlessly repeating something, that may have not actual impact on the fires in LA.
@ElValuador Dams aren't a good solution. Reservoirs in cities, like those in San Francisco, are a better idea for the rebuilding of Los Angeles than dams in earthquake country.
Please think about where you get your info from. There are some free courses available for people with zero background in analysing sources that could help. You know, don’t use Twitter as a source, that sort of basic stuff. The fish actually light the fires themselves, they’re known as “the fireflies of the water” and were imported directly from Ukraine before FEMA retrospectively classified them as an endangered native species. The conspiracy goes A LOT deeper than you think if you really dig deep. Fluoride in the water probably renders most of the supply useless because it binds with the carbon and nanonitroglyceridoos produced by the flames, thus neutralising the H20. Ocean water is typically organic and woke so that can’t be used either.
Did some dry washing among the huge chunks of concrete in that wash back in the 70s. There is/was, it's been a couple of years, an awesome powerhouse at the narrows that powers the pumps to get water up the next ridge. That big wash is full of houses now. Flood insurance anyone?
👍 Great Video….😊 A good topic for another story would be the history of how LA acquired all the land in Owen’s Valley that was needed for the aqueduct/pipeline down to LA under very shady means, drained Owen’s Lake, which ruined a lot of the Owen’s Valley farmland, and the subsequent “Owen’s Valley Water Wars” between the Gov’t and the farmers and ranchers from the area. There has been books written about the conflict.
I'm favoured only God knows how much I praise Him, $230k every 4weeks! I now have a big mansion and can now afford anything and also support God’s work and the church.
Only God knows how much grateful i am. After so much struggles I now own a new house and my family is happy once again everything is finally falling into place!!
I remember giving her my first saved up $20000 and she opened a brokerage account with it for me, it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.
Forgive me if somebody’s already made this observation. Santa Paula is not in Santa Clarita. It is in the Santa Clara River Valley, which is in Ventura County. Excellent episode by the way I love all your shows.
California would rather spend billions on some high-speed train that will never pay for itself than on the only long-term solution to LA's water problem--desalination of sea water.
My great uncle (granddads older brother) used to tell stories about this event. He was a cowboy rancher in those days and when the main flow started receding on the 3rd day he and his crew took the horses down to the new rivers edge... the rest are his words near as I can remember em. "I'd just finished washing most the mud off ma horse when I looked across the river and was stunned. The prettiest face I ever seen was on the other side, and I couldn't help myself. Dropped the reins and swam across to meet the woman I knew I had to marry." He did marry her, not too sure that's how it really happened, but he's apparently part of the reason that the Cartwrights don't care for our family😆
Given that they couldn't have known the dangers, the dam was likely built properly and safely, just on a substrate ground they didn't know was weaker than the surrounding rock. Mr Mulholland had courage taking accountability, though in view of the facts as we now know them, it was only a gesture yet it's one we all can admire and respect.
Another fact that gets forgotten is that the concrete company didn't mix the concrete to Mullholland's specifications. So that also contributed to the disaster. Sure, there were unforeseen factors, but there were some very irresponsible human decisions made.
Thanks for another piece of history being remembered. I have a number of personal connections to this story, which I've known since childhood, thanks for telling the story.
My grandpa and my grandma 's brothers and cousins went out the next morning with long poles searching for bodies. My mother's earliest memories were of dead bodies stacked on the back of a truck in Piru. I believe the tragedy is not well known is because the dam was in Los Angeles county and the majority of deaths and property damage were in Ventura County
The Fat Electrician said that beavers are a whole lot like humans. He said that most animals migrate to locations were they can get the resources they need to survive. Humans and beavers stay right were they are and adapt the environment so that they can survive. We both, also, build dams.
Caitlin Doughty covered this disaster several years ago. I'm surprised I haven't seen her video mentioned in the comments -- but, then again, I haven't scanned through all of them, so I probably just missed it.
The Santa Clarita Historical Society Museum in Saugus (downstream from the reservoir site) has, among many other fine exhibits, a photograph of the current Magic Mountain area taken just after the flood. The devastation of that entire area was evident.
I first heard of the St. Francis Dam disaster in the late 1950s, when I was a kid, from my father. Though he was born in Tacoma, his parents had moved to Los Angeles in the mid '20s so he had heard of it as a child. He'd have been 3 when it happened. I heard about it again in the late '60s, when I was studying geology at what was then San Fernando Valley State College, now California State University Northridge. The west side of the dam was built on a conglomerate which was held together by clay which falls apart when it gets wet, while the east side is on schist, that is metamorphic rock, with schistosity running approximately parallel to the canyon side. The two were separated by a fault, inactive, but a zone filled with fault gouge, rock crushed by movement of the fault, separated the two sides. There was some suspicion that the weight of the water had caused slight movement on the fault, as there was in the Baldwin Hills Dam collapse. I went there with my parents--that's where I first heard the story--and again with a geology class field trip, and the more complete story fascinated me, so I still go there from time to time on my own or with friends. By the way, zanja is pronounced sanha, with the h slightly roughened.
I use to love Dragnet and some episodes are still good but I find the anti-drug message a little heavy handed. M*A*S*H is still one of my favorite shows.
Need Will Mullholland back, right now. To show him these LA fires. What do you think, he would think??. Amazing to know that LA was only 120 people, for 60 years.
Well done, sir but I may hazard to say that Black Francis sang it better ;). As I hit the sixth decade of life, I find myself grateful for those who shared details of some of our more troubling history than did the official teachers who were sanctioned by the state. I thank my parents for telling me of Japanese interment camps and Frank Black (formerly of the Pixies) for singing of the St Francis Dam Disaster, and Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee” which may be hearing a reprise here soon. I hope the young folks of today can use a place such as TH-cam to expand their actual knowledge rather than confirm biases. Thank you 🙏
My Brother and Me barely missed being swept away "A Beaver Dam Broke", the Flash Flood Roared down the Mountain We were Fishing when I notice I was standing in Water, I step back an continued fishing Again I'm Standing I Water and I didn't move! The water is rising, We need to get out of here We got to the top of the bank, and the Roaring in the Woods we heard first Then a Wall of Rocks Sticks and Trees came around the corner and down the next The water level rose to the top of the hill and spilled over We debated on run for it, or watch to see if that was it It was much later we heard it was the Beaver dam up top the Mountain that gave way
The LA Metro Gold Line extension opening this year and the SDMTS Mid-Coast extension a couple of years ago both opened on time and within budget. California can still get it right when they have the right people.
"Mulholland did not exonerate himself. Don't blame anyone else. You just fasten it on me. If there was an error in human judgement, I was the human and I won't try to fasten it on anyone else." I can't imagine ANYONE taking responsibility like that today.
As a teen growing up in Santa Clarita, I was thrilled to be a new driver and went wandering. Up an isolated canyon, I stumbled over huge chunks of tumbled concrete, baffled as to what they had once been. It wasn't until many years later I heard about this disaster. Sobering stuff to be sure.
Not forgotten at all by many residents of Santa Paula. I was born and raised there in 1947 and it was spoken about well into the 1960’s when I left Santa Paula.
We still talk about it all the time. I was just telling my daughter about it the other day.
Both my grandmothers have talked about living through it, one in SP and the other in Fillmore. It’s forever left it’s mark on us.
Another great presentation by a solid historian and story teller! This is one of my favorite subscriptions.
Agreed! Channels like this make TH-cam bearable.
Lived in Santa Clarita 08-15. One of my son’s teachers took us on multiple field trips. Remains of the St. Francis Dam was one. Thx Mr. Johnson.
Thanks for covering this historical event!
My father, Russell Firebaugh, was a member of a Southern California Edison workcrew, and their camp was located near the riverbed, a few miles below the St. Francis Dam. This information is well documented.
While sleeping in their work tents, they were hit by the 50 foot high wall of water around midnight. He rode some debris downstream until a whirlpool allowed him to reach the shoreline. He then found a lone farmhouse and was helped by the farmer and his wife. About half of his Edison workmates didn't make it out. Obviously, had he not survived, I wouldn't be typing this. 🙂
Thirty five years later in December of 1963 the Baldwin Hills dam failed. This was documented on live TV at the time. The horrific fires laying waste to LA county is a stark reminder of the need to use resources prudendly. Prayers to those affected.
It’s incredible to think that decisions made over a century ago about water management still shape life in Los Angeles today. The foresight (and sometimes lack thereof) is remarkable.
This dam was part of the story in Chinatown. And this post is the most timely ever.
After seeing it, and Roger Rabbit, I figured out that California is nice to visit, but there's no way I'd live there. Multiple trips in and out truck driving reinforced that conviction.
@@nomadmarauder-dw9re Because movies provide such an accurate historical context.
@@nomadmarauder-dw9re I was on Jeopardy! in 1994, and my shows were taped two weeks after the Northridge quake. Back home, it was a severe cold snap with temps below 0; and it's 65 degrees in LA and I was like, yeah, I can see why people live here. Then I saw how subtle earthquake damage could be, and thought, this is why I live where I do. We have a saying here; In Buffalo, the weather has the good taste to stay outside. Compared to the other stuff, snow is not a problem.
I like your comment, I to am from Buffalo, but I moved to Virginia near Fairfax County. I went through
In God we trust and electing Donald J Trump president#47!
h the 5.3 5.7, earthquake there is differing opinions and I will tell you that no way could I live in an earthquake prone area? However, I have been through three floods luckily there was no current involved. But you still lose just about everything. Back in the 50s and 60s we had good forestry management. You could tell just by going hunting. Most of the forest I visited were very well kept. I believe California was also like that back in the day.
There is not one entity to blame on this horrific inferno, except maybe the lawyers, the environmentalist, the governor, and all the rest of the woke liberal DEI Government officials out there. I feel sorry for the carnage and the people who have lost their livelihood and who have lost their lives, but that’s what happens when you elect representatives like you have the last three decades. I have high hopes that President elect number 47 can turn this country around and make it great again.
Good episode. Mulholland is a modern tragic hero. It's also heartening to see a government official own it and resign - not too many around like that these days.
Two of my sons went to college hear Santa Paula, so I'm familiar with the area. I kept waiting for you to mention the two motorcycle cops who are commemorated by a statue in Santa Paula for their efforts to warn the residents to get to higher ground.
I had heard of Mulholland but not once had I heard of this. Thank you.
Can you do a video about Hebgen dam and the 1959 earthquake in Montana? The Hebgen dam stood strong while the landslide created Earthquake Lake!!! I visited that area when I was young. I think that is history that deserves to be remembered!!!
Brilliant production! I grew up east of the destruction in Canyon Country (now Santa Clarita) and have always been a history nerd and know a decent amount about the St. Francis Dam disaster. Your research is spot on and I appreciate you not confusing the Santa Clara River and Santa Clarita's names. Often times people call the river Santa Clarita and the city Santa Clara.
Beautiful country. Must have been a great place to grow up.
My grandmothers grandfather ran a small trucking family trucking firm in the San Fernando Valley. His 1928 diary mentions transporting some of the departed to Bakersfield.
Very well timed. I am a resident of Los Angeles County and have friends who have lost everything
I am so very sorry. Our thoughts are with you and everyone affected.
This is the city. Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm a cop. You youngsters don't know what you missed. Joe Friday and Bill Gannon.
I really liked watching dragnet when I was a kid. If I could find it i would watch it now.
Now we just need a Chinatown reference. Maybe "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown".
@@roxiereed4061 It was kind of corny dialogue at times, but it was so interesting and so much fun to watch. I miss it as well.
Why so many spaces after each full stop? Looks unhinged
@@infinidominion I didn't even notice. Doesn't look unhinged to me.
My grandfather said the worst thing that ever happened was Mulholland bringing water to the area to artificially support the growth of LA. Our families were there since 1900.
There's a great book out there written by Mulholland's granddaughter... that gives an unbiased biography on her grandfather.
An interesting story that has been so distorted even back in his time.
A must read.
Thank you for this content - I love these videos, please keep them coming!
Very interesting to quote The Miles City Star in a video about a LA dam collapse.
I just learned about an event called the Ludlow Massacre that happened in Colorado in 1914. But I can’t find too much information on TH-cam about it. Can you do an episode on it?
So Mulholland took responsibility? With our current issues regarding the fires in Los Angeles, from the governor on down nobody seems to want to take any responsibility these days...
Keep up the good work, sir.
This story is worth remembering thanks 😊
I've been wanting to suggest that covering the Black Saturday bushfires Saturday, 7 February 2009 in Victoria Australia might be worthy of consideration. One hundred and seventy three people died, thousands of homes and other dwellings were destroyed. Yet this event is all but unknown outside of Victoria. A youtube search for the key words 'black Saturday fires documentary' would yield results for a starting point.
Love “St Francis Dam Disaster” by Frank Black and the Catholics. Great song.
Agreed!
Ranks right up there with "The Wreck of the Boston Molasses Tank"
@@MrMatteNWk That one has yet to be written.
Extremely interesting and informative. The socal water story of the aqueduct is fascinating!Very timely considering the disaster unfolding currently in California.
There's a great book out there called "Floodpath" by John Wilkman.
A awesome story that really explains the history... both engineering and human... of the aqueduct.
A must.
I appreciate you and thank you for making content.
Prone to drought in 1850 and no mention of climate change- amazing.
Drought prone, and wildfire prone southern California is still proving to be more powerful than the money loving decisions made by developers, and city officals in the southlands of the state. These recent massive fires, that were caused by drought, and strong winds (which happen there normally), and someone or something setting them off, are the result of homes etc being built up in the hils that are covered with brush and grasses that only grow there do to the dry climate of SoCal. The only thing that politicians need to be blamed for is allowing said houses to be constructed in known fire prone areas.
And lots of those houses are way close together. So close that the heat from one would probably touch off the neighbors.
Man, its so nice seeing an actual adult post on the internet.
🙄 most recent L.A disaster is about No Water 💦🤨 creepy 😢
oy... I live in LA, within 10 miles of the fires. I don't mean to slam on you personally, but it makes me gnash my teeth so hard every time I hear something like this right now. Fire season hits the canyons every year, and the areas that got hit are always well-known wind-funnel valleys. this has nothing to do with water, that is a disgusting politicization of what's going on that fits a narrative being pushed and has a really slight connection to reality
@@yikemoo Agreed. All the water in the world would not have stopped that fire.
@@skydiverclassc2031 The discussion appears to be nuanced around land mismanagement that would eventually lead to a large scale fire and resource mismanagement where water could have greatly helped in *some* of the areas.
@@skydiverclassc2031 Well... it would. You just have to get it to the fire. 😉
Always informative and interesting presentations. Thank you. 👍
Dragnet was a TV show in the 50s (the 1967 version was a revival) and on the radio in the late 1940s. IIRC, the ‘This is the city’ was used in the first television incarnation.
I remember seeing one of the first TV Dragnets. It was called "Badge 714."
Actually Dragnet started as a radio program in 1949, then added a television version in 1951.
@@LuckyBaldwin777Badge 714 was a retitled version of Dragnet. The alternate title was used in syndication to distinguish them from original episodes.
This story sounds so familiar
I heard they blew up that last peice standing so the tourists would stop comimg out to see it.
There is still no monument at the dam site, and most people commuting along San Francisquito Canyon have no idea that the area five miles above where Dry Gulch intersects was once under water.
What? No one "commutes" on that road. The only reason you'd ever have to be on that road is to go check out the site, or be heading to a campsite or hiking trail out there. And yeah, there's a plaque and pretty memorable huge, bright blue sign there right outside of the current power station that you literally cannot miss
@@yikemoo Lived here for 30 years. San Francisquito canyon road is commuted every day. Between 4 and 7 PM on a weekday It takes several minutes to get out of my driveway because the road is so congested with commuters. Now in the age of cell phone navigation, when the 5 or the 14 get shutdown, navigation apps send people here. The last time it happened, my 20 minute drive up the canyon took 2 and a half hours because the traffic was so thick. 18 wheelers tried to use the narrow road and one jack knifed on one of the small bridges and damaged it. There is now a sign at the bottom of the canyon, right as you turn off that tells truckers not to use the road.
What's crazy is that I drove by it for years and never actually knew it. I knew where it was, but never noticed the dam while driving by. It's not until you get out and hike next to it and really look around that you can notice it. Mother nature has reclaimed so much of it. The large chunks of rock, that look natural, when you walk up to them you can see rebarb embedded in the rocks. The area where the old road used to split off (before the new road was constructed after a flood 15 years ago) and the new road just looks like a natural part of the mountain. If you climb up there, you can see the posts sticking out that used to hold a chain. That's what's left of the top of the dam.
@@Davivd2 .... ok I honestly had no idea but don't doubt you. people are really using that for daily commutes now?
@@yikemoo Now? I've lived up here for 30 years. It's always been used that way. It's just more people since navigation apps became wide spread.
What a fitting episode for California right now considering that water 💦 is something that the state is in desperate need right now.😮 3:28
It's a problem that goes beyond California.
Mulholland was an arrogant man who thought that he could be an engineer, without holding the proper credentials. Kinda like an orange fool who would be king.
Here's me, struggling to wrap my head around the idea that someone can actually take responsibility for their decisions.
Impressive that you can roll this very topical material out within such a brief timeframe. Up next in the Cali water crisis topical viewing binge I will be watching Chinatown, starring Jack Nicholson.
The guy is real!
Thank you for the lesson.
My sympathies for the current residents of LA.
I lived in the Santa Clarita Valley from 1988-2000. I used to hike around the ruins. Not much is evident... One can see a difference in the age of the trees from above where the dam stood and where the deluge happened.
The maximum holding capacity of the St. Francis Dam would only last Los Angles about 27 days as of 2024.
California. The most water hungry state in the US. The state of CA holds the most water rights on the Colorado River, a river that does not hardly cross the state except for the bottom of it. This is the state that believes they should have all of its water rather than Mexico have its due water rights thus only a trickle flows into the Pacific. This is the state that tried to steal water from the Snake River in Idaho and the Columbia River in Oregon and Washington. Mind you the residents WON'T conserve water as they believe that it is limitless. One of the Kardashian's blatantly stole water whilst the State was under strict restrictions with no repercussions. Plus the state WON'T do what is necessary by building desalination plants. I have zero sympathy for them one single bit.
yeah and think of how many damn pools are in LA alone. Pools are a ridculous waste of water
El Pueblo de Nuestra Madona La Regna de Los Angeles y Todos Santos.
The name got shorter as the village got bigger. The Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area now covers most of two counties.
I attended Mulholland Jr. High.
Love your videos
Thank you History Guy
Dam...
The other half of Mulolland’s legacy.
I have visited the site of the dam many times. Another tragic L.A. story
Thank you for sharing this very important history of urban planning and civics with all that was already happening in 1928.
I'd love to see a doc on the flood of the Frog Town area of Los Angeles. Mid 1930's I believe.
This is the basis for the movie Chinatown
PBS, as part of its "American Experience," had an episode on this, titled "Flood in the Desert."
It would be nice if California cared more about its people than a two inch fish. Letting water run into the sea in 2024 is insane.
Edit: If the responses below are from California voters then they deserve everything they get.
Sir or Madam, ALL water finds its way to the sea, and so must anadromous fish.
@ Not sure what your point is but tearing down dams and not building reservoirs floods towns, wastes water and exacerbates droughts.
It's a long running right-wing talking point, to pile onto a conservation effort as if the natural world does not matter. You're just mindlessly repeating something, that may have not actual impact on the fires in LA.
@ElValuador Dams aren't a good solution. Reservoirs in cities, like those in San Francisco, are a better idea for the rebuilding of Los Angeles than dams in earthquake country.
Please think about where you get your info from. There are some free courses available for people with zero background in analysing sources that could help. You know, don’t use Twitter as a source, that sort of basic stuff. The fish actually light the fires themselves, they’re known as “the fireflies of the water” and were imported directly from Ukraine before FEMA retrospectively classified them as an endangered native species. The conspiracy goes A LOT deeper than you think if you really dig deep. Fluoride in the water probably renders most of the supply useless because it binds with the carbon and nanonitroglyceridoos produced by the flames, thus neutralising the H20. Ocean water is typically organic and woke so that can’t be used either.
Did some dry washing among the huge chunks of concrete in that wash back in the 70s. There is/was, it's been a couple of years, an awesome powerhouse at the narrows that powers the pumps to get water up the next ridge. That big wash is full of houses now. Flood insurance anyone?
a book was published in the 1960's "ManMade Disaster" by Overland. I read it when I was in highschool
A good book about the St. Francis Dam disaster is "Floodpath," by Jon Wilkman.
👍 Great Video….😊
A good topic for another story would be the history of how LA acquired all the land in Owen’s Valley that was needed for the aqueduct/pipeline down to LA under very shady
means, drained Owen’s Lake, which ruined a lot of the Owen’s Valley farmland, and the subsequent “Owen’s Valley Water Wars” between the Gov’t and the farmers and ranchers from the area.
There has been books written about the conflict.
I'm favoured only God knows how much I praise Him, $230k every 4weeks! I now have a big mansion and can now afford anything and also support God’s work and the church.
Wow that's huge, how do you make that much monthly?
Only God knows how much grateful i am. After so much struggles I now own a new house and my family is happy once again everything is finally falling into place!!
I'm 37 and have been looking for ways to be successful, please how??
I remember giving her my first saved up $20000 and she opened a brokerage account with it for me, it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.
Wow
Forgive me if somebody’s already made this observation. Santa Paula is not in Santa Clarita. It is in the Santa Clara River Valley, which is in Ventura County. Excellent episode by the way I love all your shows.
California would rather spend billions on some high-speed train that will never pay for itself than on the only long-term solution to LA's water problem--desalination of sea water.
There's plenty of water, just not enough storage. Most of it just runs out to the ocean.
My great uncle (granddads older brother) used to tell stories about this event. He was a cowboy rancher in those days and when the main flow started receding on the 3rd day he and his crew took the horses down to the new rivers edge... the rest are his words near as I can remember em.
"I'd just finished washing most the mud off ma horse when I looked across the river and was stunned. The prettiest face I ever seen was on the other side, and I couldn't help myself. Dropped the reins and swam across to meet the woman I knew I had to marry."
He did marry her, not too sure that's how it really happened, but he's apparently part of the reason that the Cartwrights don't care for our family😆
There was a terrible gas explosion in the small quaint town of Onset Massachusetts, that killed several people.
Given that they couldn't have known the dangers, the dam was likely built properly and safely, just on a substrate ground they didn't know was weaker than the surrounding rock. Mr Mulholland had courage taking accountability, though in view of the facts as we now know them, it was only a gesture yet it's one we all can admire and respect.
Another fact that gets forgotten is that the concrete company didn't mix the concrete to Mullholland's specifications. So that also contributed to the disaster. Sure, there were unforeseen factors, but there were some very irresponsible human decisions made.
Thanks for another piece of history being remembered. I have a number of personal connections to this story, which I've known since childhood, thanks for telling the story.
Chinatown
My grandpa and my grandma 's brothers and cousins went out the next morning with long poles searching for bodies. My mother's earliest memories were of dead bodies stacked on the back of a truck in Piru.
I believe the tragedy is not well known is because the dam was in Los Angeles county and the majority of deaths and property damage were in Ventura County
The Fat Electrician said that beavers are a whole lot like humans. He said that most animals migrate to locations were they can get the resources they need to survive. Humans and beavers stay right were they are and adapt the environment so that they can survive. We both, also, build dams.
I love the Dragnet reference, that was one of my favorite shows when I was a kid.
"Well"... atleast we didn't get the..."watered down version"
🏆Best comment award
🇺🇸
Caitlin Doughty covered this disaster several years ago. I'm surprised I haven't seen her video mentioned in the comments -- but, then again, I haven't scanned through all of them, so I probably just missed it.
Amazing how history repeats itself
...so they named a fancy road after him?!!
The Santa Clarita Historical Society Museum in Saugus (downstream from the reservoir site) has, among many other fine exhibits, a photograph of the current Magic Mountain area taken just after the flood. The devastation of that entire area was evident.
I first heard of the St. Francis Dam disaster in the late 1950s, when I was a kid, from my father. Though he was born in Tacoma, his parents had moved to Los Angeles in the mid '20s so he had heard of it as a child. He'd have been 3 when it happened.
I heard about it again in the late '60s, when I was studying geology at what was then San Fernando Valley State College, now California State University Northridge. The west side of the dam was built on a conglomerate which was held together by clay which falls apart when it gets wet, while the east side is on schist, that is metamorphic rock, with schistosity running approximately parallel to the canyon side. The two were separated by a fault, inactive, but a zone filled with fault gouge, rock crushed by movement of the fault, separated the two sides. There was some suspicion that the weight of the water had caused slight movement on the fault, as there was in the Baldwin Hills Dam collapse.
I went there with my parents--that's where I first heard the story--and again with a geology class field trip, and the more complete story fascinated me, so I still go there from time to time on my own or with friends.
By the way, zanja is pronounced sanha, with the h slightly roughened.
Dam!
I would never live anywhere where the life of a minnow is more important than mine!
But it’s like dominoes…. Once the lower life forms start disappearing, which is happening, the whole thing collapses.
And I’m not even a tree hugger.
@@stuartriefe1740 no you’re wrong do you know how many minnows have gone extinct? Don’t buy the hype!
Dragnet was first broadcast in 1949, as a radio program, soon after it made the move to television.
Really enjoy that show. I wish Dragnet and gunsmoke had thousands of episodes, like the Lone Ranger
Miles City Montana?! My ex-wife was born in Miles City. She grew up in the quaint town of Terry. Montana is a beautiful state.
I imagine he cried every day afterwards 😢
The disaster forms some of the background for the film _Chinatown._
I might watch Chinatown again.
I use to love Dragnet and some episodes are still good but I find the anti-drug message a little heavy handed. M*A*S*H is still one of my favorite shows.
Need Will Mullholland back, right now. To show him these LA fires.
What do you think, he would think??.
Amazing to know that LA was only 120 people, for 60 years.
Ask A Mortician did a very good video about this too, for anyone wanted to watch more about the topic.
I recall an episode of “Engineering Distasters” on the History Channel, which aired approximately 30 years ago, that delved into this topic.
Don’t build where it floods or you don’t have water
It's interesting and ironic that the current governor is in the process of tearing down California dams just as the water is most needed.
Well done, sir but I may hazard to say that Black Francis sang it better ;). As I hit the sixth decade of life, I find myself grateful for those who shared details of some of our more troubling history than did the official teachers who were sanctioned by the state. I thank my parents for telling me of Japanese interment camps and Frank Black (formerly of the Pixies) for singing of the St Francis Dam Disaster, and Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee” which may be hearing a reprise here soon. I hope the young folks of today can use a place such as TH-cam to expand their actual knowledge rather than confirm biases.
Thank you 🙏
Yessss, I came to the comments right away to see if anyone referenced the Frank Black song. Such a good one. Hauntingly beautiful.
"Water is the lifeblood of every community"
Newsom, Cali Democrats and Environmentalists:
"Hold my beer"
Subject to correction....but....I believe the tunnels for the planned California High Speed Rail will run very close to the site of the dam.........
“Forget it Jake, It’s Chinatown”
My Brother and Me barely missed being swept away
"A Beaver Dam Broke", the Flash Flood Roared down the Mountain
We were Fishing when I notice I was standing in Water, I step back an continued fishing
Again I'm Standing I Water and I didn't move!
The water is rising, We need to get out of here
We got to the top of the bank, and the Roaring in the Woods we heard first
Then a Wall of Rocks Sticks and Trees came around the corner and down the next
The water level rose to the top of the hill and spilled over
We debated on run for it, or watch to see if that was it
It was much later we heard it was the Beaver dam up top the Mountain that gave way
Frank Black & the Catholics - The St. Francis Dam Disaster: th-cam.com/video/mnSj4ZEJGQU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=xSiFiw0Hu5P43pKI
" Chinatown " anyone?
I'm a little surprised that no scenes from the movie "Mulholland Drive" were used, but perhaps that would be a copyright problem.
Chinatown, Jack Nicholson ,Fay Dunaway and Walter Huston is relative to the subject at hand.
@sourdiesel9193 , yeah, but everyone is familiar with "Chinatown".
"Completed within time and within budget" is a sentence that has become extinct in California politics today.
The LA Metro Gold Line extension opening this year and the SDMTS Mid-Coast extension a couple of years ago both opened on time and within budget. California can still get it right when they have the right people.
*Ugh. A disaster. How appropriate for Monday morning.*
Cry
@@quintonmcqueen1382Troll