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Mulholland believed a large reservoir geographically close to Los Angeles would be necessary to maintain the city's water supply in the event of an extended drought in the Owens Valley, or an earthquake that rendered the aqueduct unable to move water from north to south. The ranch property is shaded yellow; the green lines are property lines. The Night of the Flood: The Failure of the Saint Francis Dam by Paul H. Rippens, 1998. Harris, Feinstein Submit Bill to Memorialize St. Francis Dam Victims (SCVNews) All rights reserved. Will Orange County's Fledgling Clean Power Agency Survive? St. Francis Dam Disaster. 8/4/2015: Video: Rep. Knight Bill Honors Dam Victims, Protects Sacred Sites (Press Conference), Extended Timeline: A Blow-by-Blow Account of the St. Francis Dam Disaster Alan Pollack, 3-13-2014. Avalanche of Water Left Death, Ruin in Its Wake by Cecilia Rasmussen Los Angeles Times, 2-16-2003. LW2731 - Saugus Community Club Plaque for 7 Members who Perished in the St. Francis Dam Disaster, 1928. 2 Employee Housing at Stator Lane, n.d. (1930s-1950s). While the aqueduct's construction was a source of enormous controversy both locally and in Owens River Valleysee: the San Fernando Valley land grab and California Water Wars, both fictionalized in the film Chinatownthe aqueduct's completion ultimately ensured a reliable supply of water that the Angelenos could drink from for decades to come. 2009 - Frank Rock: Man-Made Disaster: The Story of St. Francis Dam L.A. County Assessor parcel map: County aerial map 2014. There was nothing resembling an advanced warning system, which might have provided residents downstream from the rush of water with time to evacuate. SR2701 - Baby Book of Richard Bruitt Smith, b. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click The photographer is identified as Bob Martin; his name and the address of his Hollywood studio appear on the back of related contact sheets. 2017). Mulholland was even recorded saying at the coroner's inquest after the disaster, "of all the dams I have built and of all the dams I have ever seen, it was the driest dam of its size I ever saw.". On March 12 it will be 94 years since the night in 1928 when, at 30 seconds past 11:57 p.m., the mighty St. Francis Dam shuddered, fractured, then collapsed. The photographs were made to illustrate a feature story about the ranch, probably FILM: Fillmore After the Flood March 1928. "Phil (Phillips) did build the ranch to be a resort," Knauber said. Two minutes before midnight on March 12, the dam failed catastrophically, sending a tsunami down into San Francisquito Canyon. Call 1-800-DIAL-DWP (1-800-342-5397). Photo Gallery - Ruins of Structure on Tucker Ranch, 10 Views, 5-5-2014. Graffiti Removal at St. Francis Dam Site 2-28-2017. AS2801 - San Francisquito School, 3-9-1928. A look at years past when snows creeped into our citified neighborhoods, away from the mountains and foothills. FR2801 - Hap-A-Lan Hall (Masons) in Newhall as Morgue for Dam Victims, Exterior, March 1928. (Or, How Helicopters Help Build An Engineering Marvel On the Sheer Cliffs of the San Jacinto Mountains), Long Live the King, P-22 the Hollywood Mountain Lion, Photo Essay: The Spectacular Radio City Music Hall. Built over the course of two years, between 1924 and 1926, the dam was planned and engineered by William Mulholland, the General Manager and Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply. San Francisquito Power Plant No. Roll No. Knauber described the single-family home: "Living room with a large fireplace, a long, wood dining table with leather covered wrap-around 'diner style' seating on the window side and captain chairs on the kitchen side and a medium sized kitchen. here. This Tejon Pass Route and the Tehachapi or Midway Route (first followed by the Southern Pacific Railroad), remained the major north-south wagon and later automobile routes to the San Joaquin Valley until the construction of the more direct Ridge Route in 1915.[4]. The crash occurred at 4:11 p.m. at San Francisquito Canyon . LW2642 - St. Francis Dam Disaster: Ruins, 17 Views, Ex-San Francisco PUC Archives, ~3-13-1928. Courses. Nuclear Power Plant Planned for Saugus-San Francisquito News Reports 1960. LW3791 - (Kemp) Edison Camp Survivor C.E. At 11:57pm on March 12, 1928, the dam catastrophically failed, and the resulting flood took the lives of at least 431 people. A 120-foot-high deadly wall of water . The ruins of this disaster can still be seen today. Though the rock appeared stable, it was ultimately not strong enough to hold back 12.4 billion gallons of water. The restaurant continued to be listed in the local 1969 phone book but had already been shuttered. Click to enlarge. 2016 - Philip Scorza: L.A. Water Story and the St. Francis Dam Disaster The Phillips Ranch was located at GPS coordinates 3434'02.6"N 11828'04.8"W (34.567390, -118.468002) in Baird Canyon, an offshoot of San Francisquito Canyon, 4.4 road miles north of Stator Lane (the LADWP Powerhouse 2 community) on the southeast side of San Francisquito Canyon Road. This could be about when "Phil" Phillips who may have operated an early ready-mix concrete company in the San Fernando Valley and wife Gladys acquired the property. Ft. 28619 Apricot Pl, Saugus, CA 91390. The St. Francis Dam Break Lyrics by Dan DeVere & Jane Williams 3-9-2003. I love a good case of adaptive reuse. [2][3] The collapse of the St. Francis Dam is considered to be one of the worst American civil engineering disasters of the 20th century and remains the second-greatest loss of life in California's history, after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. The inquest jury did not recommend prosecution, but heaped blame on Mulholland for the disaster. She says hearing that the seismic risk to the dam is taken seriously and that it's been upgraded . The collapse of the dam is considered to . Francisquito Conservation Camp, CC#4, under the administrative supervision of Sierra Conservation Center (SCC) was opened in October 1981. BOOK - The Water Seekers, by Remi Nadeau (1950). Not much is said about this historical landmark in San Berardino County, but the stone steps up to what is said to be an old bath house is an interesting place to explore. George W.P. 16 juin 2022 parasitism in the sonoran desert. 5) Failing St. Francis: Water Pressure or Political Pressure? Sold - 39210 San Francisquito Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA - $398,000. HC2805 - Tombstone & Fallen Section, 1928. It was demolished after a teenage boy who climbed the ruin fell to his death. The failed dam unleashed a wall of water that sped under cover of darkness from San Francisquito Canyon, located nearly five miles northeast of the Santa Clarita Valley, to the Pacific Ocean. It was designed and constructed under the management of William Mulholland, the chief engineer of the Los Angeles Bureau of Water Works and Supply. 39210 San Francisquito Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA is a single family home that contains 1,031 sq ft and was built in 1985. The Chief Doesn't Deserve Ridicule for St. Francis Commentary by Pony Horton, 4-26-1998. HS2808 - (Formerly) Last Photo of the St. Francis Dam Intact, 3-9-1928. HC2808 - Western Abutment After the Break, 1928. The worst was the . Designs for a memorial in honor of the St. Francis Dam disaster victims are being considered. It was originally built as a weekend getaway for Gladys and Phil. Story of a St. Francis Dam Survivor by Lauren Grokett For The Signal Zone, 11-23-2001. HS2811 - Telephone Company Crew, 3 Miles West of Castaic Junction, ~1928. The landowners in what's now known as Sunland and Tujunga were willing to sell their land, but only for an artificially high price. LW2514 - L.A. Aqueduct Centennial Garden Opens at Mulholland Memorial Fountain, 10-23-2013. Simeon Tucker, San Francisquito Canyon Rancher-Hotelier (1896-1902), Passport photo 1919. AL3024 - St. Francis Dam Under Construction, 1924-1926. The flood also washed over an Edison Power Company worker's camp, taking with it 84 workers, and carved a mile-wide gash across the Oxnard Plain where countless migrant agricultural workers slept. LW2985 - St. Francis Dam Under Construction ~1925-1926. AL2023 - St. Francis Dam Disaster, Search Party, March 1928. The exhibition areas located both indoors and outdoors, feature historic photos, equipment and information. A visitor center and educational facilities will be built within the next three years. "(Charles Deem) sold some of the property between the two ranches to Gladys." Ft. 0 Vacant Land, Canyon Country, CA 91351. The Los Angeles Aqueduct Chapter 23, McGroarty's History of Los Angeles County, 1923. Though the Los Angeles River could provide enough water for hundreds of thousands of resident Angelenos, the millions that Mulholland envisioned living in the future metropolis would would quickly parch the local rivers and aquifers. Dam keeper Harnischfeger, along with his son and girlfriend, were likely the first causalities of the 10-story wall of water. Photo Gallery - William Mulholland Memorial Fountain & L.A. Aqueduct Centennial Garden, Multiple Views, 11-10-2013. 2006 - Hetta Laurena Carter and the Sloppy Cement View details, map and photos of this single family property with 2 bedrooms and 2 total baths. Photographic evidence from the early 1960s shows that Gladys F. Phillips (no mention of Phil at that time) operated the ranch as a resort. 2, 32300 N San Francisquito Canyon Rd, 9.2 mi N of Saugus NO. The Mystery of the Lost Raggio Gold, News reports 1912-1914. ID2101 - Marjorie, Mazie & Danny Curtis, St. Francis Dam Victims, 1926-1928 (Multiple Views). The property was originally homesteaded by Ben Hickin [cq], who on July 15, 1912, was granted a patent to 47.56 acres of land straddling San Francisquito Canyon Road (see plat below). LW3102: 9600 dpi jpegs from Watson Archive negatives purchased 2017 by Leon Worden. Plants grow through the cracks of the crumbling highway, a reminder that without human upkeep, nature is quick to reclaim what it considers its own. AL1301 - ARCHIVE FOOTAGE: Construction & Opening of L.A. Aqueduct, Mulholland, Etc., 1913. Making up for lost time and missed opportunities, one adventure at a time. A memorial next to San Francisquito Power Plant No. Mulholland & Harvey Van Norman Inspect St. Francis Dam Wreckage, 3-15-1928. Thornton Edwards, Hero of the St. Francis Dam Disaster, Historic Headlines: Remembering the St. Francis Dam Disaster, Santa Paula Event to Honor Heroes of Disaster, City, Survivors to Mark Deadly '28 Dam Break, Avalanche of Water Left Death, Ruin in Its Wake, Ivan Dorset Remembers the St. Francis Dam Disaster, Survivors Remember St. Francis Dam Tragedy, New Gold Discoveries in San Francisquito Canyon, Angelenos Petition Taft to Designate 1834 Gold Site a National Park, Earthquake Faults: Geology of San Francisquito and Bouquet Canyons, Human Remains Encountered During Construction: Green Valley, 1971, FILM: St. Francis Dam Under Construction in "The Temptress", Coroner's Inquest in the News: Witnesses Report Leaks, FILM: Pathe Newsreel Footage of Broken St. Francis Dam and Story of Pilot Who Died Getting It, FILM: Wreckage, Red Cross Relief Center, more, Alvina Gottardi's 1930 Fillmore High School Yearbook, Survivor's Guilt: PTSD Wrecks Lives the Floodwaters Spared, The Last Dam Victim: Youth Dies After Falling from "Tombstone", Nuclear Power Plant Planned for Saugus-San Francisquito, HR5357: Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial Act, Angeles National Forest Copper, Ranch, and Sayre Fires Restoration Strategy, Annual SCVHS St. Francis Dam Disaster Lecture, Annual SCVHS St. Francis Dam Disaster Tour, Drone Video: St. Francis Dam Disaster Site, California Oil Museum Exhibit Highlights "Lessons Learned" from St. Francis Dam Disaster, Historical Society Trio Lauded for Work to Remember Dam Victims, St. Francis Dam National Memorial Foundation, Complete Report on Construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Illustrated), Owens River Water Rights Obtained for Los Angeles Aqueduct, L.A. Board of Public Service Commissioners Annual Report, L.A. Board of Water & Power Commissioners Annual Report, 100 Mules Commemorate 100th Anniversary of L.A. Aqueduct, "William Mulholland" Presides Over L.A. Aqueduct Cascades Centennial, Saugus Division Aqueduct Workers Angered by Pay Cut, Spoiled Food, World's (Then-) Largest-Diameter Concrete Pipe Installed in Whitney Canyon, One Aqueduct Worker Beats, Robs Another at Saugus, List of Survivors from Edison Camp at Kemp, But One Girl Left of School; Even Teacher Dead (Cecilia Small), Felda (aka Velda) Louella Smith Pike, St. Francis Dam Victim, d. 1928, FILM: Fox News Footage: Setting Charges to Blow Up the Tombstone, Wing Dyke, Remains of St. Francis Dam (the "Tombstone") Toppled. FILM: Wreckage, Red Cross Relief Center, more 3-14-1928. 7 Views. The subject property had been reduced to 29.45 acres when the Hunick family acquired it and no longer included the northwest side of San Francisquito Canyon Road. He didn't. HS7044 - Photo Gallery: Wreckage at Kemp Station/Blue Cut, L.A.-Ventura County Line, March 1928. The water continued on its deadly path until around 5:30 a.m. a day later. RO2802 - Map of Flood-damaged Bridges in Santa Clarita Valley. A look back at the St. Francis Dam disaster of March 1928. Harnischfeger, who lived below the dam with his family in a small cottage, called Mulholland to the site to inspect a muddy leak, according to the Los Angeles Times. HB2801 - Gold Badge Awarded to Officer Thornton Edwards, 1928. Four years later, in 1904, that number had doubled to 200,000. 2008 - St. Francis Dam Disaster Survivors of Santa Paula LW3203 - Map of Los Angeles Aqueduct and Adjacent Territory, October 1908. The exact location of the old dam is quick walk down from the turnoff along an eerie disused two lane highway, abandoned back in 2005 after severe storm damage. LOS ANGELES (March 17, 2017) - Located inside San Francisquito Canyon near the trickling waters of the Los Angeles Aqueduct sits the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's (LADWP) Power Plant One, a 70 megawatt (MW) capacity hydroelectric plant whose grand . SUBCHAPTER VGENERAL PROVISIONS 2280. Unfortunately for him, a collage of private ranching interests owned much of the land Los Angeles would have needed to purchase. The facility has withstood the St. Francis Dam disaster of 1928 and the Copper Fire of 2002, and continues to provide the City of Los Angeles with the electricity that was so vital to propelling growth from the 300,000 people present in 1910 to the 4 million Angelenos in the city today.. Mural by Corie Mattie at Hype Fitness, Silverlake, Copyright Sandi Hemmerlein / AvoidingRegret.com 2006-2022. A state commission later determined that the dam was poorly built in a geologically unstable site. The breach unleashed 12 billion gallons of water that . Water supplied from the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which allowed water to flow south from reservoirs in the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains to the dry southern part of the the state, entered the dam in May 1926, giving Los Angeles a reserve system that could last at least a year. 2x2-inch negatives from the Watson Archive. AL1951 - Los Angeles Aqueduct, Opening Ceremonies, November 5, 1913 (8 Views). 2003, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: San Francisquito Canyon, "Roster of St. Francis Dam Disaster Victims", Rancho El Rio de Santa Clara o la Colonia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Francisquito_Canyon&oldid=1119939015, Landforms of Los Angeles County, California, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using Infobox landform with no type, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 4 November 2022, at 06:38. Badwater Road, Badwater Rd, Furnace Creek, CA, USA. Knauber said the restaurant was still equipped with its operational necessities a kitchen, flatware, dishes, glasses, a full wooden bar and stools, tables and a dance floor downstairs, with more dining and banquet rooms upstairs and a hand-operated dumbwaiter to carry food and dishes between floors. The concrete ruins of the dam are nearly buried. The Zestimate for this house is $398,003, which has decreased by $35,184 in the last 30 days. His body was recovered near Mount Islip. MF2601 - Walking Across Top of St. Francis Dam, 1926-1928. In 1904, Mulholland made a formal proposal to build an aqueduct hundreds of miles long from the Owens River Valley to a spot just north of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. By the time the water reached the Pacific Ocean at 5:30 a.m., the watery froth of earth, debris and victims was nearly 2 miles wide. Their activity stopped in 1848, when the gold discovery at Sutter's Mill started the California Gold Rush. LW2574 - Woman at St. Francis Dam With Water in Forebay, 1927. When he testified at the coroner's inquest, Mulholland said, "I envy the dead.". 2002 - Gladys Laney (Memories), AUDIO-VIDEO: ST. FRANCIS DAM IN ART-MUSIC-FILM Power Plant Ones capacity and generation success provided more than enough electricity to meet the Citys needs. Saugus Division Aqueduct Workers Angered by Pay Cut, Spoiled Food News reports, 1909. News of the dam's collapse and subsequent official warnings took time to spread. Of the equipment inside the century-old facility, one of the original 1917 turbine generators remains intact Unit 3 with 10 MW of capacity. The subject property had been reduced to 29.45 acres when the Hunick family acquired it and no longer included the northwest side of San Francisquito Canyon Road. or water main break : It's been many, many years since we saw this much snow in our mountains. Plat of the "Hicken" homestead; "Hickin" is probably correct. A little over a decade later, the property was inundated by the St. Francis reservoir i.e., it was under water from 1924-1928. 1940s, Found 10-15-2013. Knauber (Hart Class of 1968) said his mother owned the property about four years; he left for college before she sold it. The camp is jointly operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LAC). Her daughter was born by emergency C-section. FILM: Pathe Newsreel Footage of Broken St. Francis Dam and Story of Pilot Who Died Getting It, 3-13-1928.. SP0000 - Dam & Power House Before & After Failure, 1926-1928, 20 Views.. AS2802 - Survey Map: Flood-damaged Properties, San Francisquito Canyon, 1928.. WS2801 - Cleanup at Power House No. The completed dam in 1927. 4/26/2017: Knight, Brownlee Resubmit Dam Victim Memorial Bill (SCVNews) View more property details, sales history and Zestimate data on Zillow. The ranch also sported horse stables and other outbuildings. San Francisquito Canyon is a canyon created through erosion of the Sierra Pelona Mountains by the San Francisquito Creek, in Los Angeles County, Southern California.[1]. White House Tales of Scandal & Intrigue. The 12 MW capacity Unit 4 turbine is also an original, first installed within the plant in 1923. FILM: Pathe Newsreel Footage of Broken St. Francis Dam and Story of Pilot Who Died Getting It, 3-13-1928. While the total number of dead is unknown, estimates place the number somewhere between 450 and 600 people. 2010 - Katy Moffatt (Music Video): The St. Francis Dam Disaster (at 09:10) The Rise and Fall of William Mulholland by Alan Pollack, 11-2007. AL1918 - Terminus of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, March, 1918. San Francisquito's Power House #1 by Kimberley Renee 2 This is one of two generating plants in San Francisquito Canyon where the Los Angeles Aqueduct runs alongside the canyon. All of those amenities were in serious disrepair when Knauber's family moved in. St. Francis Dam: Too Big Not to Fail by Alan Pollack, 03-2010. March 5, 1964 Phillips Ranch in San Francisquito Canyon. Location: San Francisquito Power Plant No. "I have many fond memories of Phil and Gladys Phillips, as my family spent a lot of time with them. SOLD JUN 15, 2022. HB2802 - Visiting the "Tombstone," March 1928. A little over a decade later, the property was inundated by the St. Francis reservoir i.e., it was under water from 1924-1928. Though he had signed off on the dam as structurally sound the day before, the words he said while reaching for the phone early in the morning"Please, God. The collapse sent a 10-story wall of water barreling down San Francisquito Canyon. The Top 5 newsletter catches you up with LAs top 5 stories in just 3 minutes. 2002 - Frank Rock: 1928 St. Francis Dam Disaster his name and the address of his Hollywood studio appear on the back of related contact sheets. Mulholland inspected the dam, ordered some patchwork fixes to be built, and signed off on the dam's structural sanctity. The ranch property is shaded yellow; the green lines are property lines. Three people are dead and two were critically injured after a traffic collision in Santa Clarita. We believe when reliable local reporting is widely available, the entire community benefits. Mulholland Inspects St. Francis Dam Disaster Site, Watson Photo, 3-14-1928. At its height, nearly 1000 people had moved to this colony established by Job Harriman, who dreamed of cooperative living "without war or interest on money or rent or land or profiteering." . Guy L. Jones, 1928. In the 1920s, Tumble Inn, which included a hostel and a gas station, was built along the old Ridge Route and was a stopping point for many travelers. In 1877, a series of 25-foot-tall kilns were made to produce charcoal for use in the nearby silver mine. Camp History. 1913 - Construction & Opening of L.A. Aqueduct, VIDEO: ST. FRANCIS DAM SURVIVOR / WITNESS STORIES Thank you for investing in your neighborhood. Nobody who survived the flood saw the dam break. Shown Here: Statute at Large 135 Stat. The abandoned portion of San Francisquito Canyon Road, passing over where the dam once stood. The man-made flood marks the second-largest loss of life in a single disaster in California. We would stop at Phillips Ranch to sit under the trees and rest and even used the bathroom there at times.". (Photo via Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection) The dam itself was the second concrete dam designed and built by Mulholland and his water department. After riding for a few minutes, Hopewell reported hearing an enormous roar. duplex_triplex with a list price of $1595000. . 2 were invited there several times when I was growing up at No. DI2803 - Tombstone, Inside Looking Out, 1928. The narrow and twisty canyon road up to the dam site is sporadically used, barring the occasional ranching resident or intrepid cyclist. Since 1820, San Francisquito Canyon and San Francisquito Pass were part of the original route of the El Camino Viejo, an alternate land route to the El Camino Real for reaching northern Spanish and Mexican colonial Alta California. In the face of a drier future, that iconic piece of Americana is on its way out in Southern California. Although the road can be hiked from either terminus (and I've walked in both directions now), it's hard not to document the perspective facing north. 1 sometimes to swim in the big pond there. Video: Man-Made Disaster: The Story of St. Francis Dam Narrated by Charles F. Outland, SCVHS 1994. The dam collapsed on March 12, 1928, killing about 450 people. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, March 19, 1928, Page 7, Image 7, brought to you by Library of Congress, Washington, DC, and the National Digital Newspaper Program. HC2802 - Crowds Flock to the St. Francis Dam Tombstone, 2 Views, 1928 (Helena Carter collection). 100 Mules Commemorate 100th Anniversary of L.A. Aqueduct SCVNews.com, 11-4-2013. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. DI2816 - Unidentified Person Climbs the St. Francis Dam Tombstone, 1928. The dam was located in the San Francisquito Canyon, about 5 miles northeast of what is now Magic Mountain, California. Photo Gallery - L.A. Aqueduct Centennial Celebration at Cascades, Multiple Views, 11-5-2013. George W.P. Though the U.S. House of representatives passed the bill back in July, the U.S. Senate is yet to. Who Designed the Ill-Fated St. Francis Dam? Though cracks in and leakage from the dam were reported as the water level began to rise, civil engineersand Mulholland himselfinspected and signed off on the cracks and leaks as normal for a dam of the St. Francis' size and type. DI2819 - (2) Tourist Photos of the Tombstone with Ladder, 1928 (Sharon Divis collection). LW2714 - Power House No. More than 400 people were killed when water burst through the leaky dam and roared across a widespread part of the area northwest of Los Angeles. Jun 4, 2022. I didn't plan on having much time to kill in the town of Hemet, California this past weekend. View 48 photos of this 6 bed, 4 bath, 3774 sqft. DI2812 - Wrecked Farmhouse in Santa Paula? LW3538 - Photo Gallery: Disaster Site and Start of PH-2 Reconstruction; Robert Wenzel, 1928. We would stop at Phillips Ranch to sit under the trees and rest and even used the bathroom there at times.". The photographer is identified as Bob Martin; Remnants of the St. Francis Dam, in San Francisquito Canyon, northern Los Angeles County. We would love to hear from you. Hidden behind a chain-link fence, the California Historic Landmark plaque compresses the history of the dam to a couple rusty paragraphs. April Valentine died at Centinela Hospital. It was the most amazing pool and house I had ever seen as a young child. AL3028 - St. Francis Dam Failure, Aerial View, March 1928. LW2735 - Deadman Canyon Siphon Under Construction, Saugus, 1910. 1932. Imagine life over a century ago in this state. . St. Francis Dam Disaster Poem by Ron Pinkerton 7-16-1979. A patchwork of telephone switchboard operators and motorcycle police officers began the frantic task of notifying residents of low lying areas in its path.