Floodpath: The Deadliest Man-Made Disaster of 20th-Century America and the Making of Modern Los Angeles

by Jon Wilkman

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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Engineering, Historical, American History, American

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 5, 2016

Reviews

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been lucky in my history reading choices lately. This book is history the way it should be told. Wilkman brings to life the now all-but-forgotten story of the St. Francis Dam, 50 miles north of Los Angeles, which suddenly collapsed one spring night in 1928, releasing more than 12 billion gallons of water that wrought death and destruction as it roared to the sea. More than 400 people died that night in what has been called the worst civil engineering disaster in America in the 20th century.

Floodpath is meticulously researched and doesn't leave out any of the who, why, where or when of this disaster .The author doesn't cast blame, but rather lays out the known facts and trusts the reader to draw their own conclusions.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and very well researched book covering the disaster from the LA county side- would have loved a bit more delving into the Ventura County aftermath and relief efforts, but still was very compelling to read. The author touched on the historical amnesia that surrounds this event in California, and left me wanting to hear more about that, as a Ventura County born and raised kid, it’s shocking how many people here just don’t know about it. Definitely worth reading!

[Jeanine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been to Fillmore and have seen the police motorcycle statute. Now I understand the significance. Really good book.

[Sam Tulloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really well written delve into a disaster that really brought home the human impacts of such large destructive events. The thorough look through the factors that led to this disaster as well as the reflections on the current state of US infrastructure really cement the continued relevance of this disaster and the lessons learned from it as our relationship with water security changes into the future

[Nikky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof. This is a whole lot of endlessly repetitive eyewitness accounts, light-touch biography, and a supreme lack of engineering and construction details. (The description of how it was constructed was literally just "it was built")

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just before midnight on March 12, 1928, a crack was heard and the St. Francis Dam collapsed send hundreds of thousands of gallons of water towards Los Angeles and the ocean, over 50 miles away. The officially human toll was 308 dead, 117 missing and 68 unidentified as the torrential water brutalized the bodies, nearly making them unrecognizable due to debris impacts. Clothes and other recognizable aspects were often torn off, leaving the dead in rags. Innumerable livestock and wildlife were swept away. The land was scoured of grasslands, crops, and forests with everything that was once an agricultural area buried under feet of mud. Ten bridges were destroyed.

I would recommend - if the reader had not done so already - to find a book regard how William Mulholland brought water from the Owens River Valley and the tensions before, during and after that time as it is referred to in this book. The land owners were still quite unhappy about Los Angeles "stealing" their water and rumors of dynamite was the one possible cause of the collapse. It wasn't. There was even the rumor of a landslide due to an earthquake but if there was a quake, it was such a low magnitude that no one experienced any shaking.

In the end, the coroner and various civil engineers (rock and soil engineering was only beginning to be subjects of interest) decided that the cause was 'geological inappropriateness'. That the conglomerate - although initially washed clear of any loose aggregate - was still subject to what was basically liquefaction at the abutments with a defective foundation and basic design flaws.

The author then goes into the computer programs that reviewed and evaluated past dam failures so that future construction can {hopefully) avoid such disasters. The constant watch that the Three Gorges Dam in China is undergoing along with the buildup of silt and water retention. Many dams in the United States are now being removed - for environmental reasons as well as they have out-lived their usefulness - in contrast to the clean energy and countering the effects of drought which were some of the initial reasons.

Today, "The Tombstone" - the only upright piece of the dam that survived the collapse and was destroyed in May, 1929 - is long gone and buried beneath a road with the area being protected as threatened species call it home.

2025-010

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-researched book on the collapse of the St Francis Dam in San Francisquito Valley in 1928. A look at the building of the dam, the collapse just before midnight, the actions of those trying to save lives, and the aftermath. Also a look into why the dam collapsed. Covers the hearings and trial by the city to decide who was at fault. Wilkman, who lives in the area, also tells about the advances in dam building and the new studies that can be made about the cause of the collapse. He also warns about the age of the dams now in use and how many are not being properly maintained and repaired.
The reason for building the dam was water for Los Angeles and he looks at the measures being taken at this time in Los Angeles to deal with the water problems.

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

In 1928 a fairly newly built dam near (and meant to serve) Los Angeles burst. The ensuing flood killed possibly around 500 people. This book looks at the building of the dam, the disaster itself, and the aftermath – the trial and the groups put together to try to figure out what went wrong. A long-time, popular man at the head of LA’s waterworks for decades was mostly fingered as being responsible, as he was the one mainly responsible for the building of the dam.

It was good. It was pretty slow to start, as the building of the dam wasn’t all that interesting to me. But it got better (that is, more interesting) once the flood actually happened. Even the follow-up in trying to figure out what happened kept my interest more than the initial building of it.

[Judd Street · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. It's a compelling telling of a dam disaster, but reveals a much deeper story about LA and the people that inhabited it in the 20th century. Wilkman is an engaging author, and he did a great job of making the subject approachable and readable. I was particularly appreciative of the way in which he grappled with the evaluation of the protagonist - a man with faults and achievements alike, whose legacy is often absent of the dam failure itself.

Would recommend reading if you're into LA, dam failures, or cool sociotechnical systems.

[Zohar Abramovitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entry in my occasional and somewhat meandering exploration of the history of California, this book centers on the deadly collapse of the St. Francis dam in 1928 and its aftermath and delves into the personalities and personal histories of the people most closely connected with it, especially William Mullholand. This kind of thing isn't for everybody, but I found it very interesting as it gave me another look into the early history of Los Angeles, my adopted home town, and again brought the importance of water in the city's history, present and future into focus.

[Michael Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not just the story of the St Francis Dam collapse and killer flood that followed, but an accurate account of how Los Angeles got the water to enable it’s tremendous growth and the life of William Mulholland.

Mulholland is the man who foresaw the need Los Angeles would have for water and who – more than anyone else – is the responsible for the current Southern California water infrastructure. It follows his life from Ireland to California. The short version of his story is that he joined the water department as a ditch cleaner and ended up running it (It should be noted that the department went through many transition during this period which the book explains well). He was a self taught Civil Engineer – which very common in the 1800s.

Born in 1855 in Belfast. At 15 he ran off to sea after getting beaten by his father for getting bad grades. When he arrived in LA in 1877. At that time there were only 9,000 people in the city.

It covers the creation of the gravity-fed Los Angeles Aqueduct and the related water wars in the Owen Valley. It was his fear of sabotage that led him to want to store water close to LA resulting in the construction of both the St Francis and Hollywood Dam (Which is still being used at half capacity – the book explains why). It has one of the most balanced discussions of the Owen Valley water rights controversy that I have read. Normally the discussions boil down to either “LA was Bad” or “LA did nothing wrong”. The truth is in the middle and is a little gray.

The book describes the event before, during and after the collapse of the St Francis Dam. The dam failed 12 hours after He and his Assistant Chief Engineer had personally inspected the site and declared that the leaks observed that morning by the Dam Keeper posed no risk. 431 people died as a result of the flood. Mulholland told the world that he was a fault for any mistake made that resulted in the dam’s collapse. However, As a result of the collapse Mulholland was a broken man and his career was finished.

They most interesting thing was that actual understanding of how the Dam collapsed came many years later. Computer modeling was able to come up with a scenario that match the facts that had been collected.

As a result of the collapse, Water Storage was done far from LA. The creation of Lake Crowley for water storage was something Mulholland had opposed but with his departure storage of water in long valley became a reality.

One thing not in the book is that Dave McCoy was hired by the LA Department of Water and Power as a hydrographer (i.e., He measured the snow pack). He was an avid skier and in 1957 was the California State Champion in skiing.

He had set up a private rope tow at McGee mountain using parts from a Model A Ford. He tried to set up a permanent rope tow the bank turned him down. However, his future wife Roma was the bank secretary, so I don’t think it was all bad. He became the Dam Keeper at Crowley lake and while measuring snow in the nearby hills he noticed the snow was best at Mammoth Mountain. In 1942 he moved his rope tow to Mammoth Mountain.

So without the collapse of the St Francis Dam there would be no Crowley Lake, no need for Dave McCoy to be hired to watch the dam, not discovery of the great snow at Mammoth and no Mammoth Mountain ski area. In 1942 no one bid on the Forest Service request to build a ski resort at Mammoth. Dave had his rope tow, but had no money so he didn’t bid. So with the chain of events that started with the collapse of St Francis Dam there would be no Mammoth Mountain Ski Area.

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Books on historical disasters need to do two things: tell you about the disaster and make you want to cry. You need to feel the emotion come off the page. I feel Wilkman leaves in too many details. Before you get to the flood, you had to wade through a whole lot of politics and quite frankly, uninteresting details.

Th St. Francis Dam disaster is steeped in dirty politics and some of these details are necessary to understand the flood and the repercussions after it. Unfortunately, Wilkman is not discerning enough with these facts and beats you down with names of people tangentially involved. The politics around William Mulholland is much better told in Gary Krist’s The Mirage Factory and Krist does it faster according to page count.

Wilkman does not disappoint when describing the flood. He puts together a pretty compelling narrative of the dam break in the middle of the night and the details which come along with that. Unfortunately, that is only one third of the book.

The final third of the book which deals with the aftermath of the flood is interminable. It feels like a movie with too many endings in which you beg the lights to go up in the theater so you can leave. Wilkman needed to choose one narrative of the post-disaster (probably Muhlholland) and tie up loose ends swiftly.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was about the St. Francis Dam, located in California. I had never heard of this dam or this disaster, and found this book on a suggested list of books about disasters. This happened back in 1928, and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, and resulted in astronomical home and property damages. This book went into the planning and construction of the dam, which I had also never considered before reading this book. Mulholland had a good idea in building the dam and its purposes, but there were several fatal mistakes made in the construction. I think that William Mulholland really felt terrible about each part he played in this disaster, and not just for his reputation and financial implications. It was truly terrible, though hopefully a learning experience for other dam constructions going forward. This was a very enlightening book, which I enjoyed.

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few years ago, when I read Les Standiford's "Water to the Angels," my main regret was that there seemed to be relatively little coverage about the actual St. Francis disaster and the reasons why it occurred. Wilkman is as interested in the water war that shaped the construction of the St. Francis Dam, but he uses it as a lens to understand the forces that drove William Mulholland to construct the dam as something of a "shock" project, when a more measured approach would have at least allowed for a better designed structure or, in a best case scenario, a closer analysis of why the site simply wasn't appropriate for a dam in the first place.

Originally written: January 4, 2020.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about the St. Francis Dam disaster on the My Favorite Murder podcast. I'd never heard the story before and it was horrifyingly fascinating. The podcase led me to this book which led me to documentaries on YouTube, you know, the whole, down the rabbit hole thing.

Floodpath does a great job of giving the how's and why's of the disaster and explained so much that I never really understood about the history of the water shortage in Southern California.

[Tom S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read full of technical details about dams and water infrastructure, and a very good history of Los Angeles. It got a bit long at the end, but I was happy to read a good book about something I had never heard of, even though I lived in Los Angeles for a time, and visited many times.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

It begins with the action and unfolds with answers to all the questions that popped into your head while the flood made its way through the valley. Never too technical, always informative, and very entertaining. Much of LA history was written by water politics, so this is a great history lesson on southern CA in general. I'm amazed I hadn't heard of this while living in LA!

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

My wife is a dam safety professional, and my sister lives very close to the site of this dam, so I not only knew the basic story of this dam, I had actually visited the former dam site before having read the book. The book tells the basic story about the dam's failure right away, which I think was a good decision, because after that, the author goes into a great deal of detail about the history of Los Angeles and some of the notable people in the story (particularly the dam's designer, William Mulholland), and it takes quite a while to get to even the dam's construction, instead first dealing with the construction of other aqueducts and structures to establish context. During that building phase, I felt like a lot of the detail was extraneous, but just about everything was eventually relevant in one way or another. The personal stories of people caught in the flood are difficult to read, emotionally, but an important part of the story. Since I was reading this aloud to my wife (who is not much of a reader, but was interested), it was particularly difficult. The book then dealt with humanitarian efforts, financial settlements, and legal battles for a while, then dealt with some efforts to understand why the dam failed, and the implications of that failure on a contemporary project, the construction of the Hoover Dam. With that, and coverage of the death of William Mulholland, the book seemed finished, though just under half of it still remained.

Later chapters covered another book from the Sixties that uncovered some inconsistencies in the official story from the utility providers involved in the incident, as well as some unusual later coincidences, and then some much later computer-aided simulations of the dam failure that shed further light on just how the dam failed.

The author has a bit of an axe to grind about how Los Angeles and its history is generally ignored by other parts of the country, despite it being one of America's biggest cities, but that only comes up in a few brief sections, thankfully. Overall, this was highly informative, and shed a lot of light on a somewhat obscure dam failure. While the majority of the information did eventually become relevant, there was a great deal more information than was really needed to understand the dam failure, and I feel like a bit more editing might have made this a bit more digestible, since most readers of a book about a dam failure are a bit more interested in the dam failure itself than the historical context. That historical context is valuable, but could have been a bit more streamlined than it was.

[Kelly Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was born and raised in eastern LA County and had never heard of the St. Francis Dam disaster and Mulholland was simply the name of one of the most famous, or infamous, highways in Los Angeles. 28 years after leaving California I stumbled across the story and this book. I love learning about disasters, both natural and man-made, and this was a whopper. The book is extremely detailed with decades of research that unfortunately renders is quite tedious at times. The first four chapters were almost painful to get through with so many people and the politics of the day with regard to bringing water to the dry Southland. Once the events of March 12, 1928 begin to unfold it gets far more interesting. I found the subsequent inquest interesting but I’m afraid others may not be as enamoured of that section. The final chapters move into areas like re-investigations 50 years after the disaster and even more recent, computer generated simulations of the dam failure which really piqued my interest. A wrap up with statistics on dams worldwide has me more than a little concerned as I now live along a river downstream from an aging dam *gulp*. Overall I feel that this is probably the best source for learning about the St. Francis Dam disaster, I just wish I didn’t feel like it dragged in so many places (in comparison I read a book last year about the 1889 Johnstown dam disaster that held my interest throughout).

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would probably give this book 3.5 stars if I could. It's a story of ingenuity, determination, greed, and ultimate tragedy when the St. Francis Dam collapses in March of 1928, leading to a huge death toll in California's Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. It is also the story of William Mulholland, a self-made engineer, who doesn't have much book learning, but has years of experience as his credentals.

The book discusses Los Angeles' drive to grow from some forty square miles into the massive city that it is today. However, to do so, water had to be readily available. William Mulholland worked for the city as its chief engineer. He decided that he would create an aqueduct that would bring in water from miles away. The aqueduct was a success, but reservoirs were needed for water storage. This book is the story of one such reservoir and the dam, which created it.

I enjoyed the book, but there are some slow areas. It is difficult to dislike Mulholland. He seemed a decent man who tried his best, but not all the characters involved had such selfless motives. Water meant money for those who could take advantage. As a result, many people felt that Los Angeles' need for water was imperative. Where there is greed and a need to build at any cost, decency and common sense can be overlooked--and someone will have to pay the price.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

How Los Angeles gets its water is an always-current controversy, and I'd heard of William Mulholland, the visionary wheeler-dealer who brought the city its first aqueducts and reservoirs. But I'd never heard of the San Francisco Dam failure of 1920, the collapse of a Mulholland dam that flooded the Santa Clara riverbed all the way to the ocean at Oxnard, killing more than 400 people and devastating the towns and farmland between. The story is a dramatic one, the background on Mulholland is fascinating, and the author discusses the engineering studies since 1928 that have searched for the cause of the failure. Among the causes was the hubris of Mulholland himself. It was interesting but a bit depressing to read about Mulholland while I was also reading about John D. Rockefeller in "Titan"--and when I had recently read about Robert Moses in "The Power Broker": three men who stated out as visionaries and overreached as power- or money-mongers. I found the writing a bit confusing--sometimes repetitive, sometimes not expressing logical connections--and in need of some editing, but I'm glad to know this story.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historically, when I find I need to read a book for a class it turns out to be educational but written in a style that requires mainlining caffeine and taking frequent breaks to punch myself awake.

This book is nothing like that.

From the outset the reader is exposed to the big picture of the situation (a young Los Angeles needs water and a middle aged William Mulholland - yep, the same guy Mulholland Drive is named for - knows how to make it happen).

From there the author tells you a story culled from the pages of history, the pages of legal records, and recorded eyewitness accounts about the subtle dangers of building dams.

The human element is on display throughout this read: self-taught success, bull-headedness, anger, conniving, distrust, racism and more.

The book is ostensibly about the collapse of the St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon in northern Los Angeles County. If you are intrigued enough about it from my thoughts on reading it, pick up the dam book yourself and learn while being entertained.

[Kenneth Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book, and by far the best book I've read on failure of a dam. The primary reason for this being the best of the three is that it took the work of J. David Rodgers in geophysics nearly 40 years later to complete the forensics and piece the timeline of the dam's failure together. Although the dam's siting turned out to be a huge mistake Mulholland, the lead engineer, didn't include enough provisions in the dam's design to properly deal with seepage and uplift. The dam was not adequately keyed into the underlying bedrock either. Although Mulholland had designed several earthen dams that stood the test of time this was only his second concrete dam. Further, he didn't provide the features that were incorporated into the Elephant Butte Dam a dam that was built about the same time as the St. Francis Dam. There's much engineers can learn from the forensics of the St. Francis Dam, as well as other dam failures but some dam failures like this one are very complex and others, such as Johnstown, were a result of either poor or no maintenance.

[Jennifer W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first heard of the St Francis Dam disaster on a PBS show (Flood in the Desert) and wanted to learn more. It's hard to picture a massive disaster like this in your head, but I think by the end of the book, the author did a good job of explaining the details of how and why the dam broke. I think the author did an excellent job of finding the nuances that demonstrate there are few true heroes or villains in this world. I found the beginning of the book a little slow, the flood itself was of course heartbreaking, but for me, the action really picked up in the investigations. What happened and could it have been prevented? I'm a science nerd, so the discussions on uplift, shist, triangulation, all that stuff was fascinating to me. That said, it's a little hard to picture (the diagrams were very helpful) and I could have used more maps as I'm totally unfamiliar with California.

Also, consider that every river in the US is dammed at some point... you might want to approve more taxes to maintain those suckers...

[Bob Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

We can learn from forgotten history

I grew up in suburban Los Angeles as did my parents. My grandparents lived in the region before the St. Francis Dam was built. Yet I never knew about this. My grandparents, originally from Northern California spoke a lot about L.A. stealing Owens Valley water and turning the valley into a desert, but not a word about the dam that failed and killed hundreds. Why?
Well, L.A. in my lifetime and well before my birth always had selective amnesia about inconvenient topics and, frankly, benefitted from it. And many always assumed civilization ended north of the Hollywood sign. And water is money.
I live in Northern California now, and locals in this region still fear, with some good reason, that L.A. still has eyes on our water for their grass, swimming pools and even more Angelinos.
This book is a story of engineering failure, greed, arrogance and very short memories.
It is an important morality play.

[Bonnie_blu · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. I'm from Pittsburgh and was well aware of the Johnstown Flood, but had never heard of the St. Francis Dam flood. I found Wilkman's book interesting for the most part, although the book bogged down in places. In addition, the author failed to raise the characters above superficiality; therefore, relating to them emotionally was difficult. Even so, the book clearly shows how ego, hubris, politics, and the desire for power doomed the dam and the hundreds that died in the flood. There is definitely a moral to be learned here, i.e., the more oversight from independent parties, the better.

One more point: the author seems to feel that California and the West in general are viewed as "less than" by entrenched powers in the East. I don't doubt this, but his presentation comes across as petulant.

[Linda Gaines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, but it could have been improved with perhaps a bit more on the chapter that explored what modern engineers and scientists modeling the disaster think actually happened. I tried to follow it, but I could not quite understand what was being described. There was also points where it describes prejudice and racism during the time that seemed a bit too much "just reporting" and not fully acknowledging how wrong it was. Also, one additional criticism is not against the author, but my guess is the publisher is at fault. The description of "deadliest man-made disaster of 20th-century America." Some qualifiers are needed. Presumably it means accident not plotted, criminal disaster. Even with that qualifier, while when a hundreds of people die, it can be hard to get an exact count, the Texas City disaster of 1947 (see Bill Minutaglio's "City on Fire") was probably deadlier.

[Mkingsford · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having lived in California for most of my life, I had not heard about this dam collapse, so by reading this title, I was hoping to learn lots of cool stuff. Not the case. The author wandered from here to there, brought up newsworthy items for sure, but would have been better in another book. I am still not exactly clear in exactly where this damm was located, just somewhere next to Castaic (6 Flags Magic Mountain) area for those of you not familiar with CA. For all the pictures included in the book, a map would have been nice. Overall, I was pretty disappointed with the book. Took forever to read, plodding, a bit anti-climatic in places. I learned a couple of things, but not enough to quench my thirst about this dam failure.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing Story of a Forgotten Disaster

I live a few blocks from the Santa Clara River in southern California. Today the valley where the river's located is a mix of housing tracts, citrus groves and farmland; there's not much left to remind you of the people who lived in the small towns and on the farms and ranches there long ago. But almost 90 years ago, this valley witnessed one of the greatest floods in modern history - caused by the failure of a dam built to provide water and power to Los Angeles. Floodpath discusses the disaster, the man and the project that led to the dam's construction, and the impact of the disaster on individual lives, dam construction, and the popular views of the history of the region. I had a hard time putting it down!

[Lynne Nunyabidness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wilkman combines the history of the water wars and the urbanization of southern California with discussions of geology, engineering, and materials science to tell the story of the St. Francis Dam failure in context. He takes a fairly chronological approach, with leaves the resolution of questions about the disaster to the end of the book, when modern techniques help solve the mystery to the extent possible. As I often note with nonfiction books of this nature, I think the text could have been complemented with better maps and illustrations (including one that attaches a timeline to a specific location). Nonetheless, still a worthy read, especially considering the evolving water crisis in the region.