Floodpath : the deadliest man-made disaster of 20th-century America and the making of modern Los Angeles

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Just before midnight on March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam, a twenty-story-high concrete structure just fifty miles north of Los Angeles, suddenly collapsed, releasing a devastating flood that roared fifty-four miles to the Pacific Ocean, destroying everything in its path. It was a horrific catastrophe, yet one which today is virtually forgotten.

With research gathered over more than two decades, award-winning writer and filmmaker Jon Wilkman revisits the deluge that claimed nearly five hundred lives. A key figure is William Mulholland, the self-taught engineer who created an unprecedented water system, allowing Los Angeles to become America's second-largest city, and who was also responsible for the design and construction of the St. Francis Dam.

Driven by eyewitness accounts and combining urban history with a life-and-death drama and a technological detective story, Floodpath grippingly reanimates the reality behind L.A. noir fictions such as the classic film Chinatown . In an era of climate change, increasing demand on water resources, and a neglected American infrastructure, the tragedy of the St. Francis Dam has never been more relevant.

Author Notes

Jon Wilkman is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. His television series Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood was named one of the year's top ten programs by the New York Daily News and the Wall Street Journal , and nominated for three Emmy Awards, including writing. Wilkman also is the author, with his late wife, Nancy, of two books about Los Angeles. He is currently at work on a documentary on the St. Francis Dam disaster.

Reviews (5)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Popular knowledge of early Los Angeles's struggle for water owes much to the film Chinatown, but documentary filmmaker and writer Wilkman (Los Angeles: A Pictorial Celebration, with Nancy Wilkman) shows that the real story of L.A.'s water is as fascinating-and devastating- as the fictionalized version. In 1928, the St. Francis Dam, which held more than 51 million tons of water for Los Angeles, failed, resulting in a 54-mile-long flood path and leaving almost 500 dead. True to its title, this book maintains a focus on the flood itself, but with ample historical context and discussion of the sociopolitical effects up to the present. Wilkman's goal is to tell the truth about this largely forgotten episode, and he succeeds by studying the personal stories of those who were affected, the investigation into the collapse, and the various theories as to why the dam failed. His extensive research reveals the effects that institutional racism had on victim compensation and care in the flood's aftermath, and supplies details down to the occasional meal description. More than just the story of one of the greatest tragedies in the 20th century, Wilkman's book is also a commentary on developing safe technologies in the face of climate change. B&w photos. Agent: Mel Berger, William Morris Endeavor. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

It was almost midnight on March 12, 1928, when the St. Francis Dam broke north of Los Angeles. Over the next several hours, the floodwaters would ravage a path more than 50 miles long to the Pacific, killing nearly 500 people. Documentary filmmaker Wilkman gracefully combines engineering explanations and a who's who of turn-of-the-century Los Angeles elites with a riveting account of what is called the deadliest man-made disaster in America during the twentieth century. The man at the center of the story, no-nonsense William Mulholland, rose from a ditch digger to become the man in charge of meeting the thirsty city's growing need for water in the face of litigation and even downright violence. While Wilkman recounts Mulholland's career and the context surrounding the construction of the dam, he hits his stride with the detailed narrative of its violent collapse, a disaster that unleashed a firestorm of criticism and questions only partially answered by an emotional coroner's inquest. While the massive disaster may have been largely forgotten, its foundation in both hubris and opportunism remains relevant today.--Thoreson, Bridget Copyright 2015 Booklist

Choice Review

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Wilkman uses his investigatory skills and storytelling talents to create this engaging history of the St. Francis Dam disaster of 1928. Floodpath begins with the colorful history of Irishman William Mullholland, who managed to parlay his natural abilities in math and science and strong political acumen to transition from a lowly ditch digger to superintendent and self-taught chief engineer of the Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply and one of the most respected and iconic civil engineers in early-20th-century California. Wilkman skillfully describes how Mullholland, in response to the demands of business and civic leaders for a stable, reliable water supply beyond what local rivers could provide, built aqueducts, dams, and reservoirs to transport water from mountain sources to LA, with specific focus on the St. Francis Dam. Wilkman uses witness accounts, newspaper articles, and official reports to chronicle the dam's catastrophic failure and collapse as well as the resulting destruction and devastation to the Pacific coast. He also describes California's development of regulatory procedures, safety standards, and licensure requirements for all civil engineering projects conducted throughout the state as a result of the tragedy. An excellent cautionary tale for engineers and planners as well as an excellent addition to the history of Los Angeles. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. --Kenneth L. Carriveau, Baylor University

Kirkus Review

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Wilkman (Los Angeles: A Pictorial Celebration, 2008, etc.) offers a well-researched account of a little-remembered California tragedy. On March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam, located in the San Francisquito Canyon, some 50 miles north of Los Angeles, cracked apart and collapsed, releasing more than 12 billion gallons of water. Nearly 500 people were killed. Wilkman tells the dramatic story in the context of the rapidly growing city, whose ceaseless need for water had until then been met by the legendary, self-trained civil engineer William Mulholland (1855-1935), who managed the city's water system for 50 years. An iconic, sometimes arrogant figure, Mulholland had supervised the building of the Owens River Aqueduct (1913), which gave rise to modern LA. At 72, he created yet another expansion of the city's water system with construction of the St. Francis Dam, which he deemed safe. Drawing on archives and interviews with survivors, Wilkman re-creates the disaster, its huge flow of "rocks, mud, debris, and mangled bodies," and the stories of victims stripped naked by the flooding waters. One 13-year-old rode the flood for nine miles and wound up stranded in a tree. The author also details the ensuing search-and-recovery efforts as well as the many investigations into the disaster's suspected causes, which ranged from landslides to deliberate dynamiting. His explanations of dam design and construction methods will seem like too much information to many general readers, but the narrative never drags for long. In the end, the dam's failure was attributed to the poor quality of underlying rock. A coroner's jury refused to indict Mulholland, who accepted blame for the disaster and retired, a broken man, later that year. The author notes how Mulholland was never really exonerated in public memory or by historians. Will appeal especially to anyone interested in Mulholland and western water issues. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal Review

Wilkman (Picturing Los Angeles) is better known for his documentary films than his monographs, and he's chosen to tackle a historical topic that remains controversial to this day-the collapse of the St. Francis Dam on March 12, 1928, which cost hundreds of people their lives and resulted in millions of dollars in damages. At the center of the discussion is the dam's creator, William Mulholland, who, throughout his life, had been cast into the roles of both hero and villain for part in the California Water Wars. Wilkman demonstrates a balanced perspective on Mulholland's lifetime of labor, acknowledging both the good and the bad that the man's actions wrought. Moreover, the author ties the events at the St. Francis Dam to the contemporary American experience-with a high demand for water in a severe drought, combined with the aging and failing infrastructure of dams, waterworks, and energy grids, Wilkman convincingly argues that the United States is primed for another such disaster. VERDICT Wilkman's well-written, well-researched, work certainly complements other books published on this provocative topic, such as Mark Reisner's Cadillac Desert and William L. Kahrl's Water and Power.-Crystal Goldman, Univ. of California, San Diego Lib. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Prologue	p. 1
1 Monday	p. 10
2 The Chief and the City of the Angels	p. 19
3 "There It Is, Take It!"	p. 38
4 Holding Back the Future	p. 54
5 A Monster in the Dark	p. 77
6 No Time for Nightmares	p. 100
7 The Dead Zone	p. 115
8 Sympathy, Anger, and Amends	p. 138
9 Arguing Over the Ruins	p. 155
10 Los Angeles on Trial	p. 171
11 Rewinding Time	p. 192
12 Hasty Conclusions and High Dams	p. 210
13 Paying the Price and Moving On	p. 221
14 Unfinished Business and Historical Amnesia	p. 232
15 Charley's Obsession and Computer Time Machines	p. 247
16 After the Fall	p. 267
Acknowledgments	p. 279
Selected Bibliography	p. 283
Notes	p. 291
Index	p. 311

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