Exploring the St. Francis Dam Ruins

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Come discover the ruins of a dam that collapsed causing the death of over 400 people.
Written and Produced by: Bethany Guerrero
Cinematography and Visual Effects by: C. Drew Unser
Special Thanks to: Alan Pollack, Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel
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Опубликовано:

24 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 278

@cowboyvalley 5 лет назад

THIS is the kind of stories the History Channel should be backing.....not the so-called "reality shows". You two are very polished at what you do. WELL DONE! Thanks.

@cdavidlake2 3 года назад

Exactly. This series is like an alternate universe History Channel.

@kingtigertank 2 года назад

Exactly! I love these two and their content!

@jackie4350 2 года назад

Well said

@JuanSilva-ym9pf 2 года назад

They used to have shows devoted to stuff like this. “Engineering Disasters” and “Modern Marvels” were the programs that filled out the early programming schedule on the History Channel until all that other crap took over.

@angiecameron245 Год назад

I agree.💕👍

@utahsickofitall 3 года назад

Great video of a solemn place. I went up there for the first time last year and at times it is hard to imagine a full reservoir behind that dam and what that area looked like back then. As a Civil Engineer myself my biggest fear is something I approve would cost another their life. In many respects I feel great pity for Mulholland.

@alistairville9303 5 лет назад

So great that you got local historians, Alan and Dianne, to add their voice to your report.

@OddityOdysseys 5 лет назад

They were amazing! We were thrilled to have them join us for the episode.

@765kvline 3 года назад

In 1984, I had a tour of the site by a retiree of the Bureau of Power & Light (Department of Water & Power), who was one of the first to access the reach the dam site and rescue several survivors. We went to the remains of the wing wall, which has a small historical marker there. Hidden by weeds, he knew how to find it. I have a piece of the St. Francis Dam at home and many historical works about the disaster.

@BeyondTheCompass817 7 лет назад

Wow, that is some serious history. Tragic, too. Very well done.

@bocswu 2 года назад

I learned of the dam disaster from a song. 2001's St. Francis Dam Disaster by Frank Black and the catholics. Reading the lyrics always gives me the chills. There was a well known water master man He was the king He could do anything The St. Francis dam disaster, man Thought she was all right Until around midnight Because that water seeks her own She had a desire to flow She was looking for somewhere to go She was a slave to the great metropolis She was feeling choked She pushed the wall till it broke When they heard the great apocalypse At powerhouse number 2 Well, there was nothing they could do Because that water seeks her own Five and one half hours she would flow She had 53 miles to go A cascade down to Santa Clara way Near 60 feet high Now she's a mile wide It was clear she was going far away And whole towns were, too A few got lucky in Piru Because that water seeks her own But four more hours she would flow She had 29 miles more to go She carried in her every kind of thing House, tree, and telegraph pole Some say a thousand souls At 3 A.M. she gave Santa Paula a ring She was still 25 feet high Under a peaceful sky Because that water seeks her own But two more hours she would flow She had 19 miles more to go It was a real bad night in little Saticoy El Rio, then Montalvo How many, no one really knows Ventura Beach was very scary, boy Humanity a-pile She went a final mile Because that water seeks her own Into the sea water flowed Now forever she would go

@camclarke8796 3 месяца назад

Thank you Alan and Dianne for such an informative part of California's history. Well researched and well done!

@tammanyfields3583 Год назад

Went here and through here all the time exploring and feeling the emotion of all the life lost there.

@smilncynic 5 лет назад

That is one weak one-week dam! I loved the history and presentation; excellent vid!

@rontom7344 5 лет назад

I once visited this site while in college on a class field trip. Very interesting and informative bit of Los Angeles history. I never knew of this dam's existing before this trip and I really want to re-visit this site with some friends. I'm always interested in visiting sites that once stood or had a significant history to it and now no longer exists. Well done. Thank you!

@OddityOdysseys 5 лет назад

Thank you for watching!

@slufoot77 7 лет назад

Another awesome episode :) You guys need to be on TV :)

@OddityOdysseys 7 лет назад

Thank you! Maybe one day ;)

@residentpotato6023 Год назад

I want to explore Bethany without a dental dam.

@gordybishop2375 4 года назад

I keep forgetting the reason the tombstone was no longer there. Thanks for reminding us about the last victim of this tragedy

@naomidavis3665 7 лет назад

Hey, Drew and Bethany! Great Oddity! I was a little nervous when you climbed up to the top platform....so high! Enjoyed the seismic discovery and glad you didn't shake it! LOL! Loved it so much. Keep 'em coming! Naomi Davis :)

@tonymac4044 7 лет назад

Great work guys!!! I love the old pics and videos!!! This was a dam good episode!!!

@OddityOdysseys 7 лет назад

Thank you! And awesome job being the first to use the "dam" pun in comments :)

@scotts7017 5 лет назад

I was going to make one but dam, I didn’t get this in my feed until now 🙁.

@AudiophileTubes 2 года назад

Utterly FASCINATING! I did not know about this 'great American disaster'! Well done!

@traviscrabtree8782 5 лет назад

This is why the internet is awesome. In wanting to know the origin of the name Mulholland Dr. I came across your site and now in the matter of minutes I have taken a trip to the dam site with you guys and have gained great knowledge on the tragedy. I could almost feel the wind blowing during much of the film! Do you guys know of the Johnstown flood in Pennsylvania and the Thompson flood of Colorado? Interesting stories also. Great work guys and I look forward to viewing your website too. Thanks

@OddityOdysseys 5 лет назад

Thank you, Travis! We haven't heard of those events but now we've added them to the list. Can never have too many suggestions for episodes :)

@TrumpetMAB 3 года назад

It's funny that you went looking for the dam site knowing it existed. I knew nothing of the disaster and stumbled onto it quite by chance. I had been exploring San Francisquito Canyon and found the overlook above the Pyramid. I photographed it not knowing what it was until a couple of days later when I was using Google Maps to geotag my photos and Google placed photos captioned "St. Francis Dam Ruins" on the page. A week later I was back out there taking photos of the old road and the ruins. It is a fascinating piece of LA history for sure.

@dennishanley9103 5 лет назад

Excellent video! Thank you so much for all you've done. I remember hearing about after the failure of the dam the water flowed through Fillmore and Santa Paula, all the way to the ocean in Oxnard. An unknown number of migrant farm workers lost their lives along the way. There were, and probably still are, a lot of people in the Santa Clara River Valley that thought Wm. Mulholland was the villain who should have been imprisoned for causing this tragedy. Maybe one person shouldn't have had so much influence on the design of such a large project, and I suspect today there would be an amazing level of expert review. For what it's worth, I attended Wm. Mulholland Jr. High School in the 1960's, were Mulholland was portrayed as a hero for bringing water to Los Angeles and was largely responsible for the city's ability to grow and prosper as a result.

@andyoncam1 4 года назад

A combination of lock-down here in the UK and my long held fascination with the history and geography of LA has led me to a lot of RU-vid viewing and subsequently to your very interesting channel. I've only had chance to watch a few of your videos so far but your relaxed, informal and informative style makes them a delight to watch. I couldn't help but be reminded of the parallels between the St Francis dam disaster you describe here and the fictional dam collapse referred to in Polanski's magisterial film 'Chinatown' and the 'water-wars' that formed the basis of the film. Its worth noting that the torrent of water was so great that people were killed in the town of Piru, some 22 miles down stream.

@OddityOdysseys 4 года назад

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us kind words and your experiences! We hope you are staying safe, healthy and happy during these times. Have a great rest of your week and we hope you will stay tuned. :)

@moth450 5 лет назад

You guys are great. Love the adventures. Thank you I really enjoyed the history lesson on this one.

@marinegunny826 3 года назад

I was born in southern California, grew up in the San Fernando valley and had never heard of this event. Moved to Virginia in 92 and by chance, read about it online. Wife and I almost yearly road trip out to California to visit my Mom, so in 2008 went to find the dam ruins. I now have a small piece of the dam on my fireplace mantle

@santana898989 5 лет назад

Excellent efforts. I'm from Los Angeles, and love history. I knew about this tragedy, but not all of the details. Thank you.

@janetgasman3784 7 лет назад

Another outstanding episode you guys!!! Great job on the interviews. Really enjoyed it.

@comegetyourjuice6370 2 месяца назад

This is AMAZING! Thank you guys for this masterpiece of a video! Keep doing what you do!

@lumbee1587 6 лет назад

Great video I live out here and love our history. Been to this spot many times

@andrewmay8824 7 месяцев назад

Another great video. Thanks for some interesting history.

@mikebettencourt8377 5 лет назад

Thank you for the video. I've read a lot but seeing the site really helps me understand.

@Dusty_Peanuts 5 лет назад

I love very close to the dam and I didn't even know the history behind it! I gotta visit it now and experience it for myself now, thank you for the great video!

@nathanbugg3221 5 лет назад

Very well put interviews and video. You 2 are my new favorite adventure video folks.

@TheAdventureBuddies 3 года назад

Love how it's informative and interesting at the same time. Well done for the video!

@janettamcgee8124 5 лет назад

Gosh, y'all are great. We got a history lesson and science lesson all in one. This was very interesting, but sad, story.

@rockytop228 7 лет назад

Another great episode 👍🏻 Thank you!!

@larryfisher9358 5 лет назад

When I was an EE senior at New Mexico State Univ. (Las Cruces) ca 1960, I was rummaging in the Goddard Hall attic and came across a forgotten book of photos of the dam--part of the post-failure study. I didn't know at the time what it was, but it piqued my interest and, over the years, have read a bit about it. I had always wondered what came of the remains. Thank you for a very interesting, if melancholy, explanation. A sad reminder of what can happen when engineers make mistakes! (In particular, when dam builders don't talk to geologists.) In particular, I wondered about the disposition of the "tombstone". The explanation is sadder and more tragic than I had realized.

@ponyhorton4295 5 лет назад

Likely that book would have been MAN-MADE DISASTER by Charles Outland. Also, Mulholland DID speak to geologists, and the dam was signed-off on by other engineers. They had NO WAY of knowing about the paleo landslides yet, as geologic engineering was barely known as a science yet.

@Victorsanchez-zk9mq 6 лет назад

Always looking for new places to explore. Great video thanks.

@da7heaven 6 лет назад

Very professional, well done! You two are fun and informative!

@peteterrill2329 7 лет назад

Brilliant vid. Well done, AGAIN!

@brillblonde6705 7 лет назад

Great episode! What a story this is. Absolutely fascinating and heartbreaking, too. Excellent!

@donnasloane9031 3 года назад

Great to hear all this....sorry about the people...very sad.....but how wonderful to be educated on the history.thank you everyone.

@StevePicaGCT 5 лет назад

This was a GREAT video! Anyone interested in Mulholland and the role of water in the development of Los Angeles and the environs, see if you can find a copy of ' Rivers in the Desert ' by Margaret Leslie Davis. Unfortunately it is out of print but it's a really good read and also covers this disaster.

@tuckert7883 2 года назад

Thatnks for sharing..great story and editing

@YOURCAPSLOCKISON 5 лет назад

Great video!! And as of today... this memorial is happening! :)

@cartman4885 4 года назад

Very well done and informative thanks to all of you

@coltsuperocean10 7 лет назад

....another great documentary film guys, keep up the excellent work.

@OddityOdysseys 7 лет назад

Thank you!

@jimholmes2555 3 года назад

Great History. Thank You!

@davefour-real1615 6 лет назад

Good presentation. Thank you from UK. .

@victorbreitenbucher2332 6 лет назад

You guys have some awesome videos, so cool!

@reinhardtnilsson7360 7 лет назад

Great video again guys, and Beth keep it COMING!!!!

@jeffreysausedo3289 5 лет назад

I love your channel. Keep it up

@iPatttKerdsiri 6 лет назад

Great work !

@peterbradshaw8018 Год назад

Love the documentary style presentation. Better than any

@michaelracobs1956 7 лет назад

Great job guys.

@johnpotter8039 3 года назад

I had read "Man Made Disaster" in 1964 in junior high school and arranged to have my brother drive us up to the dam site. It has changed a good bit over the past 57 years. First, we drove up the old road, and it was clear where the dam was because the terrain to the north of the site was lush, green and wooded. The area below was still scoured and nearly barren. It had been only 36 years since the collapse. The wing wall was intact, and the steps of the "tombstone" were more visible. We brought back a chunk of concrete from one of the downstream sections. We also talked our way into Powerplant # 2 during our 1964 trip. We saw the transformer that was wrenched out of the basement and tossed down the canyon, fished out, welded back together and re-used. I went back in the late 1980s. I hooked up with a Boy Scout troop and their scoutmasters, one who had a copy of the book. It was interesting to be among young men who were my age when I first saw the dam. It was clear that the wing wall had been demolished with explosives, not natural weathering. We went together to San Francisquito Powerplant # 1 and had a fascinating tour. The Pelton Wheel generators still had their "50 Hz buckets", designed to generate 50-cycle power that ran Los Angeles until the early 1950s. I have visited the ruins of the South Fork Dam above Johnstown, PA, and, at the end of the summer, I am going on a military history tour in Belgium and France, then flying to Italy to see the Vajont Dam, the site of the October, 1963 landslide that sent a 750' tsunami down a narrower canyon, killing over 3,000 people. I have long been haunted about the St. Francis Dam. I will return sometime, in the next few years,

@rbrown8695 5 лет назад

It's nice seeing my home town of Santa Clarita and seeing them take a tour down San Francisquito Canyon where my parents live. Very familiar area.

@jamesrauff 4 года назад

Great stuff ! Very informative and historic

@OddityOdysseys 4 года назад

Thank you for watching!

@scottconnelly2223 3 года назад

Excellent presentation. I just finished reading Rivers in the Desert: William Mulholland and the Inventing of Los Angeles Kindle Edition by Margaret Leslie Davis . I checked online maps and google earth as I wanted to learn more and go explore the area sometime. The historical photos are very interesting. The book described many details including the inquest as to the cause. In 1994 a project identified the ancient Paleolithic landslide. Takeaway no one person should have the sole responsibility to make all the decisions.

@staubach1979rt 3 года назад

Good video on some serious California history that very few people are aware of. The flood waters traveled south until turning west at the Santa Clara River just north of present day Magic Mountain. Eventually, the waters reached the Pacific. Bodies were literally found at the California-Mexico border. The second largest California disaster in history as far as lives lost. It's remarkable that more people don't know this history. Great job.

@davidgault4337 5 лет назад

Just discovered your show... Great episode! May I recommend doing a follow-up on the Mulholland Dam and its 'enhancement' following the St. Francis Dam failure.

@doug7232 3 года назад

Best of these I've seen and there are quite a few

@colinthegeordiehistorian10 4 года назад

Loving your videos just found them a few days ago. You have a fan from England keep up the good work looking forward to watching all your videos

@OddityOdysseys 4 года назад

Glad to have you! Thanks for watching. :)

@prot0type90 6 лет назад

Great video guys!

@MattXplorz 3 года назад

I love this!!!! I'm such a history buff, I try to do something similar on my channel. This gave me inspiration

@SumDumGy 6 лет назад

I visited this site just two days ago. I guess I was fortunate. Read the Wikipedia article then used Google Maps to view the length of San Francisquito Rd. from the air. Watched for debris, then made the drive. No sweat. The 90th anniversary is only weeks away.

@SKF358 2 года назад

This is the best reporting on the St. Francis Dam that is available.

@johnwayne6501 5 лет назад

there used to be a CBS tv show in the 80's called "Two on the town". You guys are so top notch and should do a TV show like it.

@jedburnell9046 5 лет назад

In the 50's CBS had a similar show called Ralphs Story.

@BrianFolks 7 лет назад

Thanks again for another great episode.

@OddityOdysseys 7 лет назад

Thank you!

@rainer250 7 лет назад

You'd think a growing number of cracks appearing on the face of the dam would be red flags that something was wrong and the muddy water that Tony Harnishfiger spotted on the morning of the disaster, which inditicated the dam's foundation was being washed away.

@ponyhorton4295 5 лет назад

All concrete dams crack and leak. Just part of how they are. Rolled earth fill is much more stable. But back then, the science of rolled earth fill was not well-developed. Hollywood Dam is the exact same design and build as St. Francis, and because the DWP covered it with 300,000 cubic yards of earth, and planted trees, it's now more stable and still in operation.

@RW4X4X3006 4 года назад

It's the dam that don't leak, you gotta worry about. The dam was stout, the ground was not.

@deconteesawyer5758 3 года назад

@@ponyhorton4295 You mean the Mulholland Dam named in honor of William Mulholland,

@ponyhorton4295 3 года назад

@@deconteesawyer5758 Yes. It's also been called Hollywood Dam for a long time.

@deconteesawyer5758 3 года назад

@@ponyhorton4295 ... and before that for a long time it was named ... If you are riding in the wayback machine why stop there.

@Hunter42392 5 лет назад

Wow awesome video thanks for sharing!

@Ffwee 4 года назад

A very well done and respectful mini-documentary. Big thumbs up.

@OddityOdysseys 4 года назад

Thank you so much!

@Magicmountainguy 4 года назад

I went back up there two days ago. San Francisquito Canyon is so beautiful! Took my dog up there with me. No one else was up there, so I had the whole area to myself. There’s a peaceful feeling there now. I felt sad though as I sat there and thought about all the lives lost!

@agm6095 4 года назад

Your most interesting video, thank you.

@JonathanLeggAdventure 3 года назад

Well done guys. Came across this video after cutting my own. You've definitely gone much more in depth with the details. Well produced and hosted. kudos.

@OddityOdysseys 3 года назад

Thank you so much! We'd love the chance to see your work in the future.

@murrayaronson3753 5 лет назад

The bill establishing the national memorial has passed both houses of Congress and is now on President Trump's desk awaiting his signature.

@Sitonmyfacebook 5 лет назад

Great dam video...

@Idahoguy10157 5 лет назад

Read “Cadillac Desert” by Marc Reisner about Mulholland and his failed dam

@williamzabel2080 5 лет назад

Great job on this video.

@academyofshem 5 лет назад

I've seen documentaries about this tragedy. Totally cool to see the remains. I'm just curious about what happened to the little f@&#er who threw the snake.

@godknowsimstupid7848 2 месяца назад

What a greay Dam video, lots of dam experts and good dam exploration lol

@rickpedia6724 3 года назад

The History channel went to hell. You guys are informed and informative. These are the links I can send to my grand kids. Good job you guys, thank you!

@Jabroni2U Год назад

Interesting and wonderful reporting as usual, thanks

@RCAFTailWind 3 года назад

What a great documentary. Thanks

@OddityOdysseys 3 года назад

Thank you for watching!

@sublimingpizza1188 7 лет назад

I enjoyed the video so much

@anthonyoregano69 Год назад

I just found your channel. I love your guys chemistry and the information provided about side stories and the main topic. Y'all are great! I am binging your content as I play Farm Sim 22 xD Hope you guys are doing well and I look forward to future content! I love learning new things about my state :D

@OddityOdysseys Год назад

Hey Anthony - So awesome to have you on board! Hope you have a great rest of your weekend. :)

@jamesslittle 9 месяцев назад

That was awesome.

@richardmoramarco6754 Год назад

In high school I had a calif history class and our book had a story and a picture of the dam after it broke, the tombstone. Was my favorite class in school.back in the early seventies.

@Lauren-fl8mc 2 года назад

Great video!

@billsmith9711 5 лет назад

seems to me like California should be trying to construct more and better reservoirs for the use of water by the people. There are many good locations to build them and capture the snow runoff each year. Instead of building a train that no one will use.

@jflow08 3 года назад

I had to go see the site for myself. So surreal to see this part of history.

@endt1mes 6 лет назад

Wow, loving all your vids. Found you from Adam the woo!

@Vulturefist 5 лет назад

Thanks for a great history lesson! Seriously, this becomes very interesting because of how it’s presented. Well done people! Like and sub coming up and I’m looking forward to watching all the stuff on this channel. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

@Vulturefist 5 лет назад

Can’t really shake the picture of that kid in the casket though... 😥

@richardbinder9662 5 лет назад

I lived in Newhall, which is in Santa Clarita. It's kinda of aways out from the city. Used to ride my motorcycle out there. Tragic story.

@archiveseeker 5 лет назад

It was because of this tragedy that approval of a dams construction, could no longer be signed by just one person.

@jesscast5122 5 лет назад

specially a DUMB ASS w NO education.

@SumDumGy 4 года назад

@Jess Cast, So when geologists agree with said “dumb ass” and also sign off on it?

@angelpadilla5472 7 лет назад

LOVE IT!!! great episode and very informative you guys are awesome. my only question is how come you guys don't have a space on Discovery channel or something?

@concerned1313 3 года назад

Again, another great video. Though I was aware of everything you talked about, the detail was precise. I have not visited the dam site yet and it is on my bucket list. I was unable to find "extended interviews" on your website that you mentioned in your RU-vid video here. Mulholland was one of my idols and was an uneducated engineer. He was educated via his own studies. The Hollywood Reservoir is another one of his dams and they keep it below full capacity today in part due to the Saint Francis Dam Disaster. If it wasn't for Mr. Mulholland, much of Los Angeles would of grown much later then it did. He affected individual cities and towns, but mostly the layout of the City and County of Los Angeles. You both sound like you two have a couple of history degrees. You both speak well and are concise and factual. The only way I can tell is by reviewing videos of subjects I know much about like Mr. Mulholland. I have read his daughter's book and I own it and it is part of my personal library. Thank you and will be watching more of your videos down the road! I just subscribed...

@damiancentanni2773 3 года назад

Thank you Bethany and Drew! 👍 Wonderfully educational video! I grew up in Compton (Southeast LA County) and, Buena Park(Orange Co)

@colinniehus6806 6 лет назад

I enjoyed your video.Liked and Subscribed

@jedburnell9046 5 лет назад

While at the Santa Clarita Library, an idea struck me. I pulled microfiche's of the old local newspaper on the dam. On a whim, I backed up a day to see what the news was the day before. It was Owens Valley 4 (or 5, I forget), trial resumes. (Both trials are an amazing read full of Easter Eggs such as this one.) In Evidence, was a faded label on the box of dynamite that implied it was still half full after the first blast. In the second trial over the dam failure, Mulhulland suspected the dam was blasted and brought an expert to testify that all the dead fish at the base of the dam had died of concussion. But he mistakenly put him on the payroll to cover his travel expenses instead of reimbursement, and it tainted the witness. This is where DWP turned on him so they could have Plausible Deniability for future projects. Per his autobiography, (Glendale Library Special Collections), he believed to his death that the dam was bombed.

@SumDumGy 4 года назад

Thanks for sharing. That’s a theory I never encountered. I don’t believe it based on the forensics of the site, but there were certainly motivations for it.